How do cow mud and squid skin serve science?

Okra Sauce to Catch Bleeding: Okra, a tropical herb widely used in African recipes, can work wonders in terms of medicine. Malcolm Xing of the University of Manitoba in Canada studied the green, sticky vegetable and found that dried okra juice could be pulverized into a bio-sticky gel. This gel, which is used during surgery, can stop bleeding when applied like a natural bandage.

Okra gel has been previously tested in the heart and liver of dogs and rabbits and has stopped bleeding within one minute without the need for stitches. Human trials are planned for the next few years.

FIREFLY ROBOTS: Fireflies inspired researchers at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop mini-drones that glow when they fly. To do this, they outfitted the winged robots with artificial muscles, called actuators, with shiny particles. If sensors are attached to these illuminated drones, they could be used in rescue operations in collapsed homes where larger robots cannot fit.

EARLY CANCER DETECTION WITH ANTS: Early detection of cancer by conventional methods such as MRI or mammography is often invasive and expensive. That is why scientists are increasingly turning to animals: dogs are used here, but so are ants. In a study by the Sorbonne University Paris Nord, which has not yet been independently verified, ants were given sugar water as a reward for training them to distinguish between the urine of cancerous and non-cancerous mice.

One hundred ants were able to accurately identify ovarian cancer and two different forms of breast cancer with a 95 percent accuracy. Dogs take at least six months to be trained to recognize cancer, while ants can learn it in less than an hour.

COW MUSCLES TO PROTECT AGAINST STD DISEASES: You may feel disgusted at first when cow saliva is mentioned. But a study published in September shows that this slime can be used effectively against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV or herpes. Mucus contains a protein called mucin, which may have an anti-viral effect. The researchers extracted this protein from cows’ salivary glands and turned it into a gel that can engulf and destroy tiny viruses.

Laboratory tests have shown that this lubricant can reduce the risk of HIV transmission by 70 percent and even 80 percent for herpes. But this study is still in its infancy and – unlike effective protective measures like condoms – needs to be further tested.

SQUID SKIN AS PACKAGING MODEL: There are chromatophores on the skin surface of squids that can change size and color suddenly. In a study published in the journal “Nature Sustainability,” researchers developed “small metallic structures” based on their model that can separate and shrink to create packaging that can regulate heat. This can be used to keep cappuccino or pizza warm for take away in the future.

(SDA)