Group items tagged

The laser is combined with a small adaptor that contains the drug to be delivered, in liquid form, plus a chamber containing water that acts as a "driving" fluid

A flexible membrane separates these two liquids

This type of laser is commonly used by dermatologists, "particularly for facial esthetic treatments

Each laser pulse, which lasts just 250 millionths of a second, generates a vapor bubble inside the driving fluid.

pressure of that bubble puts elastic strain on the membrane, causing the drug to be forcefully ejected from a miniature nozzle in a narrow jet a mere 150 millionths of a meter (micrometers) in diameter

little larger than the width of a human hair

impacting jet pressure is higher than the skin tensile strength and thus causes the jet to smoothly penetrate into the targeted depth underneath the skin

Tests on guinea pig skin show that the drug-laden jet can penetrate up to several millimeters beneath the skin surface, with no damage to the tissue

Because of the narrowness and quickness of the jet, it should cause little or no pain

This region of the skin has no nerve endings, so the method "will be completely pain-free

ou/Seoul National University. In previous studies, the researchers used a laser wavelength that was not well absorbed by the water of the driving liquid, causing the formation of tiny shock waves that dissipated energy and hampered the formation of the vapor bub

laser with a wavelength of 2,940 nanometers, which is readily absorbed by water. This allows the formation of a larger and more stable vapor bubble

The laser-driven microjet injector can precisely control dose and the depth of drug penetration underneath the skin. Control via laser power is the major advancement over other devices

now working with a company to produce low-cost replaceable injectors for clinical use

Further work would be necessary to adopt it for scenarios like mass vaccine injections for children

At first

the formations appear similar to so-called Martian "blueberries" — iron-rich spherical formations first seen by Opportunity in 2004 — but they actually differ in several key ways, scientist said

This is one of the most extraordinary pictures from the whole mission

Kirkwood is chock full of a dense accumulation of these small spherical objects. Of course, we immediately thought of the blueberries, but this is something different

never have seen such a dense accumulation of spherules in a rock outcrop on Mars."

The new photo by Opportunity is actually a mosaic of four images taken by a microscope-like imager on its robotic arm

Opportunity is currently exploring a location known as Cape York along the western rim of a giant Martian crater called Endeavour

Despite its advanced age, Opportunity is still pumping out new discoveries after more than eight years on Mars.

first spotted Martian blueberries soon after its landing in 2004

blueberries are actually concretions created by minerals in water that settled into sedimentary rock.

Opportunity has seen Martian blueberries at many of its science site

bumpy, spherical formations on the Kirkwood rock represent something new

. In Opportunity's new photo, many of the strange features are broken, revealing odd concentric circles inside

seem to be crunchy on the outside, and softer in the middle

different in concentration. They are different in structure. They are different in composition. They are different in distribution

science team have several theories, but none that truly stand out as the best explanation

Kirkwood outcrop is just one science pit stop at Cape York for Opportunity. Mission scientists have already picked out another interesting rock outcrop nearby, a pale patch that may contain tantalizing clay minerals, for possibly study after Opportunity completes its current analysis.

spring equinox is approaching on Mars, ensuring increasing levels of sunshine for Opportunity's solar arrays

"Energy production levels are comparable to what they were a full Martian year ago

local time was early Monday morning.

Soyuz crew was in good health and spirits

He and his Russian crewmates signed their Soyuz spacecraft, which is destined for a Russian museum

125-day spaceflight began in mid-May and included three spacewalks and several robotic cargo ship arrivals.

. The three spaceflyers were originally slated to blast off in March, but a pressure test incident cracked their first Soyuz capsule, causing a six-week delay while another spacecraft was readied.

launched on May 14 and arrived at the $100 billion orbiting lab May 17. Just eight days later, SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule docked with the station on a historic demonstration mission, becoming the first private vehicle ever to do so.

on Sept. 5, crewmates Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide performed an extra spacewalk — the third for the mission — to replace a vital power unit on the station's backbone-like truss. Using improvised tools such as spare parts and a toothbrush

a stuck bolt that had delayed the fix a week earlier

Expedition 33

will have the station to themselves until mid-October, when three more astronauts will float through the hatch and bring the expedition up to its full complement of six crewmembers.