Japan to Begin Clinical Trials for Artificial Blood This Year

credit – Adrian Sulyok on UnsplashJapan is the first country to begin clinical trials of artificial blood, a medical innovation which if proven successful, would solve one of the largest hospital challenges of our age.Beginning back in March, a clinical trial organized by Nara Medical University will look to build on the success of an early-stage trial in 2022 of hemoglobin vesicles, small artificial blood cells that were confirmed to be safe and capable of delivering oxygen as normal.The trial will administer 100 to 400 milliliters of the artificial blood cells to further test safety before moving onto broader performance and efficacy targets, all in the hopes that by 2030, the artificial blood could enter clinical use.Whether high-income or low-income, every country has challenges meeting the necessity necessary amounts of stockpiled blood donations for emergency medical procedures.In high-income countries where the 90% of blood stockpiles comes from voluntary donors, the challenge is getting enough of these donations, and crucially, enough from those with rare blood types.In low-income countries where only 40% of needs are met with donations, the challenge lies in importation from abroad when donated blood packs are only safe for use for a few months. A useful proxy to understanding this shortfall is that of 175 countries included...

Read More........→May 29, 2025

Climate scientists are trusted globally, just not as much as other scientists – here’s why

I. Noyan Yilmaz, Shutterstock Omid Ghasemi, UNSW Sydney and Ben Newell, UNSW SydneySocieties increasingly rely on scientists to guide decisions in times of uncertainty, from pandemic outbreaks to the rise of artificial intelligence. Addressing climate change is no different. For governments wanting to introduce ambitious climate policies, public trust in climate scientists is pivotal, because it can determine whether voters support or resist those efforts. So do people trust climate scientists, and what affects levels of trust? Our new study shows climate scientists are less trusted than other types of scientists globally. But there are profound variations in this trust gap between countries, and within them. Finding ways to increase trust in climate scientists is crucial if the world is to implement effective policies to avert dangerous global warming. Low trust in climate scientists may hinder effective climate science communication and reduce public engagement with climate solutions. Mozgova, Shutterstock.Examining trust in science We collaborated with an international team of researchers to analyse data from one of the largest cross-national surveys of public attitudes toward science. The dataset includes responses from nearly 70,000 people across 68 countries. It offers a rare global snapshot of how people perceive...

Read More........→May 28, 2025