We’re back with four awesome discoveries
you probably didn’t hear about this week!
Meet the wild groundcherry – about the size
of a cherry tomato, but much sweeter.
You don’t see them at the market because
they’re tough to grow and
tend to drop from the vine before they’re ripe.
But that could change -- thanks to the gene
editing tool known as CRISPR.
So far, scientists have made the groundcherry
fruit denser and larger, among other improvements.
Evidence that gene editing can put wild plants
on the fast track for domestication,
and our grocery baskets.
They’re one of the universe’s most mysterious
stars: Luminous Blue Variables.
Supermassive and unstable,
they burn bright and hot, then cool and fade…
only to fare up again.
With the help of supercomputers, new 3-D simulations
reveal the inner workings of these rare stars,
showing them becoming more luminous and then
erupting…
and the physical forces that contribute to that behavior.
Understanding how these stellar bodies lose
mass could lead to greater insights into how
they end their lives as bright supernovas.
Engineers exploring how to create self-healing
adult muscle tissues have found a critical component
— the immune system.
Specifically, macrophages… immune cells
that our muscles need to self-repair.
After researchers added the macrophages to
lab-grown muscle and injured it,
the muscle grew back over 15 days and contracted almost like it did before injury.
This discovery is expected to play an important
role in studying degenerative muscle diseases…
and enhancing the survival of 
transplanted engineered tissues.
Wild suburbia!
A new study finds wild mammals are thriving
near humans.
Citizen scientists helped researchers monitor
wildlife with cameras in 1,400 locations
in Washington, DC and North Carolina.
From backyards to forest fragments to truly wild.
Turns out there wasn’t much difference in
how many species used the different areas,
or in their activity – a surprise that may
mean the impact of suburban areas is less
dire for many mammals than previously thought.
And there you go!
See you next week with 4 more awesome discoveries
with funding from NSF.
