The demise of retail giant Filene’s Basement may have a positive effect on proponents of vertical urban farming and algae biofuels alike. Since 2007, the developers of a Filene’s site in downtown Boston have been unable to find funding to move the project forward. But now Höweler + Yoon Architecture and their partner Squared have put forth a proposal to erect a temporary vertical, modular, algae bioreactor high-rise in its place.

Called the Eco-Pod (pdf), the project leaders intend it to immediately stimulate “the economy and the ecology” of downtown Boston simultaneously. Eco-pod is a temporary modular structure made of individual pods that can be disassembled if and when the Filene’s project actually gets funded. According to the developers of Eco-Pod, each pod will produce biofuel and act as an incubator for scientists and companies to do research on growing algae and producing biofuel. The structure will also have open common areas to form a network of public parks and gardens.

Taking advantage of the fact that algae can be grown vertically on non-arable land, the Eco-Pod expands on the idea of urban vertical farming and takes it one step further with a vision to make fuel locally in an urban setting. By placing the structure in the middle of a city, the developers hope to stimulate public interest in algae biofuels as well as create an interaction between the public and researchers.

The Eco-Pod’s modules can be reconfigured as necessary to meet the changing demands of the structure by means of a “robotic armature powered by the algae biofuel.” If the Filene’s project ever takes off, the modules can be taken down by the robotic arm and redistributed to other parts of the city to infill other empty sites.

And now for a little dose of reality: As with most projects of this type, this one seems designed by people who have little practical experience with the needs of scientists and the viability and profitability of making algae biofuels with current technology. While I appreciate the creativity of the venture, I think it is a bit too pie-in-the-sky to ever see the light of day. Sure it could be done, but it would likely be a money-losing venture—far from the economic stimulus that the developers envision.

Source: Biofuels Digest

A way to reverse ageing has been discovered which allows withered muscle to rebuild itself by turning back a “biological clock”.

The effect has already been demonstrated on human muscle tissue in the laboratory.

Scientists in the US believe the breakthrough could lead to new treatments that rejuvenate and strengthen ageing bodies or combat degenerative diseases.

Their findings also underline the importance of staying active for older people, since this reduced age-related muscle loss.

Professor Irina Conboy, from the University of California at Berkeley, said: “Our study shows that the ability of old human muscle to be maintained and repaired by muscle stem cells can be restored to youthful vigour given the right mix of biochemical signals.”

Previously the same team had shown that molecular “messages” from muscle cells alter with age to affect tissue repair. As people get older, their ability to restore and rebuild lost muscle is weakened.

The US researchers, working with colleagues from the Institute of Sports Medicine and Centre of Healthy Ageing at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, compared muscle tissue samples from around 30 healthy men. Half the volunteers were young 21 to 24-year-olds and half aged between 68 and 74.

At the start of the study, samples of muscle tissue were surgically removed from the participants’ thighs. The men then had the leg from which the biopsies were taken immobilised in a cast for two weeks so that their muscles atrophied.

After the casts were removed, the men exercised with weights to rebuild their wasted muscles. The scientists found that during the exercise period the muscles of younger volunteers had four times more regenerative stem cells engaged in tissue repair than those of older participants. Old muscle also showed signs of damaging inflammation and scarring.

Analysis of the samples revealed for the first time a biological pathway involved in muscle repair that relied on an enzyme called mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). The enzyme, a type of active protein, stimulated a biological “switch” on muscle stem cells called Notch that triggered growth.

From The Belfast Telegraph