THIS IS WHY THE NEED FOR  FLYING AIRCRAFT CARRIERS: Russia’s State-of-the-Art Torpedo That ‘Changed the Rules of Maritime Warfare’

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Sputnik

Russia’s State-of-the-Art Torpedo That ‘Changed the Rules of Maritime Warfare’

Russia will modernize its VA-111 Shkval supercavitating torpedo under the 2018-2025 state arms program. The torpedo can reach speeds of over 300 kph. Today, Russia is the only country to have in service such an advanced weapon.

“Work is underway. I think the parameters will be seriously improved. The program is part of the 2018-2025 state armaments program,” Boris Obnosov, head of Russia’s Tactical Missiles Corporation, said at the MAKS 2017 air show in July.

The Shkval missile-torpedo is a Soviet-designed aircraft carrier killer with unique capabilities. It entered service with the Soviet Navy in 1977. Propelled by a solid-fuel jet engine, the torpedo can travel at speeds of over 300 kph.

Developed in the 1970s, the Shkval was ahead of its time for decades. Its main advantage is a cruising speed of an outstanding 100 meters per second. Its disadvantages include a high level of noise, a limited operational range (up to 10 km) and an operational depth of only up to 30 meters.

The torpedo does not have a target seeker, relying solely on an inertial guidance system. Initially, it was armed with a 150-kiloton nuclear warhead, and then a conventional warhead was designed.

Now, the non-nuclear modification is going to be seriously upgraded in accordance with new challenges and operational requirements. Moreover, there has been increased interest for the Shkval in the global arms market.

“Torpedoes were always one the main defensive and attacking assets in maritime warfare. The Shkval outstands among others torpedoes because it packs a combination of some of the most advanced technologies ever. The torpedo came as a formidable weapon against American aircraft carrier groups and changed the rules of maritime warfare,” RIA Novosti contributor and political commentator Alexander Khrolenko wrote in an analytical piece.

The Shkval’s unprecedented speed is possible due to supercavitation. The torpedo travels in a cavitation pocket created by its specially designed nose cone and the expansion of hot engine gases. A gas bubble envelops the torpedo, minimizing its contact with water and significantly reducing water drag.

Cavitation, however, creates a problem for maneuvering. When a torpedo changes its direction it body moves out of its cavitation pocket, reducing its speed due to water drag. The Shkval’s cavitating nose cone turns when the torpedo changes direction, keeping it in a gas bubble while maneuvering. The torpedo steers using four fins and the nose cone.

“Usually, torpedoes may be sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, including water temperature and water density at various depths. The development of the Shkval required scrupulous research works in different scientific fields and the result was a real breakthrough in hydrodynamics. The Shkval puts Russia at least four decades ahead of its rivals. Today, such a weapon is mass-produced only in Russia,” Khrolenko pointed out.

For decades, the Shkval has been second to none among other torpedoes. In 2005, Germany said it had completed the development of the Barracuda missile-torpedo capable of reaching the same speeds. However, the torpedo has not yet been put into mass production. The US has been making similar efforts since 1997, but no working prototype has been presented yet.

‘Persian Gulf is No Place for US Navy’ THE US NAVY IS FACING FIERCE RESISTANCE TO BE IN SMALL INTERNATIONAL WATERS PROTECTING OUR MARITIME COMMERCE IN THE BALTICS, PERSIAN GULF AND THE ARCTIC

A US Navy patrol boat fired warning shots on Tuesday near an Iranian vessel in the Persian Gulf. Tehran slammed the incident as “a provocation.” In an interview with Sputnik, military expert Dmitry Litovkin said that the mere presence of US warships in the Gulf is fraught with unpredictable consequences.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) blamed the American vessel, the USS Thunderbolt, for provoking the tense encounter.

US Navy Tests Laser Weapons System in Persian Gulf (VIDEO)

It said that the US ship had come dangerously close to the Iranian naval ship on a patrol mission in international waters the north of the Gulf, and fired two warning shots “with the intention of provoking and intimidating” the Iranian sailors.According to Iran’s Press TV, the Iranian ship ignored the Americans’ “provocative and unprofessional act” and proceeded with its mission. The IRGC later said that the US ship had left the area.

In an interview with Radio Sputnik, military expert, Captain 3rd Rank, Dmitry Litovkin said that there is no place for the US Navy in the Persian Gulf.

“The Persian Gulf is very far away from US territorial waters. Still, it was the American ship that opened fire. Iran is washed by the Persian Gulf and has a security zone there, which it controls. What the US Navy is doing there is a very big question,” Litovkin said.

He added that the Americans have several big naval bases in the region, which apparently control oil traffic in the Gulf.

“From the standpoint of the International Law of the Seas, the Americans’ actions in the Gulf are absolutely illegal. What are they doing there? They are conducting a military operation in Iraq and trying to impose democracy on Syria. All the other countries in the region which are against this are thus seen as being in the way,” Litovkin noted.

He said that the US was doing much the same in other parts of the globe.

“I remember how a Russian fighter jet ”buzzed” a US destroyer in the Black Sea, turning on its electronic jammer and forcing the  shocked Americans to beat a hasty retreat. However, it was the US ship approaching our shores, not our plane flying towards the US coast. It’s a case of who is at home and who is not,” Dmitry Litovkin emphasized.

US Navy Ship Fires Warning Shots at Iranian Vessel in Arabian Gulf – Reports

In a similar incident in August, Pentagon officials said Iranian speedboats had “harassed” US warships in the Strait of Hormuz. They claimed that Iranian boats moved close to two US Navy destroyers with their weapons uncovered in the strait in an “unsafe and unprofessional” encounter.Based on the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Iran has the right to “decisively confront” any menacing passage through the Str
ait of Hormuz, according to IRGC second-in-command,  Brigadier General Hossein Salami then told Press TV.


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How to mend a broken heart: Scientists develop an injectable tissue bandage the size of a POSTAGE STAMP that could remove the need for invasive surgery

• 
  
• The AngioChip is made of a biodegradable scaffold with lab-grown heart cells
• As it emerges from the needle, the patch unfolds itself into a bandage-like shape
• When tested in rats and pigs, the heart cells survived well
• The researchers emphasise that more research is needed before human trials 

Repairing cardiac tissue after a heart attack usually requires invasive open-heart surgery, which comes with severe risks, including chest infections and memory loss.

But the risky operations could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to an incredible new injectable tissue bandage.

The bandage, which is the same size as a postage stamp, can be injected using a small needle – although the researchers stress that more research is needed before it is used on patients.

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The bandage, which is the same size as a postage stamp, can be injected using a small needle – although the researchers stress that more research is needed before it is used on patients

ANGIOCHIP DEVICE

The team has spent nearly three years developing a patch that could be injected, rather than implanted. 

After multiple attempts, the researchers found a design that matched the mechanical properties of the target tissue, and had the required shape-memory behaviour.

As the tissue emerges from the needle, the patch unfolds itself into a bandage-like shape. 

Once it had been designed, the next step was to grow the patch with real heart cells.

After letting them grow for a few days, they injected the patch into rats and pigs.

Not only did the injected patch unfold to nearly the same size as a patch implanted by more invasive methods, but the heart cells survived the procedure well.

The scaffold is built out of the same biocompatible, biodegradable polymer, meaning that over time, the scaffold will naturally break down, leaving behind the new tissue. Researchers from the University of Toronto have developed the new device, called the AngioChip, which is a tiny patch of heart tissue with its own blood vessels.

While such lab-grown tissues are already being used to test potential drug candidates for side effects, the team's long-term goal is to implant them back into the body to repair damage.

Professor Milica Radisic, lead author of the study, said: 'If an implant requires open-heart surgery, it's not going to be widely available to patients. It's just too dangerous.'

The team has spent nearly three years developing a patch that could be injected, rather than implanted.

Mr Miles Montgomery, one of the researchers working on the tissue, said: 'At the beginning it was a real challenge; there was no template to base my design on and nothing I tried was working.

'But I took these failures as an indication that I was working on a problem worth solving.'

After multiple attempts, Mr Montgomery found a design that matched the mechanical properties of the target tissue, and had the required shape-memory behaviour.

Small needle can inject scaffold to repair tissue without surgery

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As the tissue emerges from the needle, the patch unfolds itself into a bandage-like shape.

Professor Radisic said: 'The shape-memory effect is based on physical properties, not chemical ones.'

This means that the unfolding process doesn't require additional injections, and won't be affected by the conditions within the body.

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Mr Miles Montgomery (pictured front), one of the researchers, said: 'At the beginning it was a real challenge; there was no template to base my design on and nothing I tried was working. But I took these failures as an indication that I was working on a problem worth solving'

THE RISKS OF OPEN HEART SURGERY 

The injectable mesh could replace the need for open heart surgery, which has a number of risks. These include:

- Chest wound infection (more common in patients with obesity or diabetes)

- Heart attack or stroke

- Irregular heartbeat

- Lung or kidney failure

- Chest pain and low fever

- Memory loss or 'fuzziness'

- Blood clot

- Blood loss

- Breathing difficulty

- Pneumonia

 Source: HealthLineOnce it had been designed, the next step was to grow the patch with real heart cells. 

After letting them grow for a few days, they injected the patch into rats and pigs.

Not only did the injected patch unfold to nearly the same size as a patch implanted by more invasive methods, but the heart cells survived the procedure well.

Mr Montgomery said: 'When we saw that the lab-grown cardiac tissue was functional and not affected by the injection process, that was very exciting.

'Heart cells are extremely sensitive, so if we can do it with them, we can likely do it with other tissues as well.'

The scaffold is built out of the same biocompatible, biodegradable polymer, meaning that over time, the scaffold will naturally break down, leaving behind the new tissue.

The team also found that injecting the patch into rat hearts can improve cardiac function after a heart attack.

After injecting the patch, damaged ventricles pumped more blood than they did without the patch.

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The scaffold is built out of the same biocompatible, biodegradable polymer, meaning that over time, the scaffold will naturally break down, leaving behind the new tissue

Professor Radisic said: 'It can't restore the heart back to full health, but if it could be done in a human, we think it would significantly improve quality of life.'

The researchers highlight that there is still a long way to go before the material is ready for clinical trials.

The team has applied for patents on their invention, and is exploring the use of the patch in other organs, including the liver.

Professor Radisic added: 'You could customise this platform, adding growth factors or other drugs that would encourage tissue regeneration. I think this is one of the coolest things we've done.'

Lab-grown mini-brains that snap together like building blocks could help scientists treat schizophrenia and autism

• Researchers created distinct, three-dimensional replicas of regions of the brain
• These pea-sized 'organoids' can connect to form a functioning mini-mind
• The organoids will one day help scientists to understand how the brain develops 
• The technique could also help researchers study degenerative brain diseases such as autism and schizophrenia 

Scientists could soon grow mini-brains by snapping together living parts like building blocks thanks to a newly developed technique.

Researchers have created pea-sized 'organoids' - distinct, three-dimensional replicas of regions of the brain.

These regions can connect together to form a functioning mini-mind that can help scientists to understand how the brain develops.

Experts say the technique could also help researchers study degenerative brain diseases such as autism and schizophrenia.

Scroll down for video

Scientists could soon grow mini-brains by snapping together living parts like building blocks thanks to a newly developed technique. This sped-up animation shows the connecting cells of two 'organoids' created by researchers (credit: Yale University)

MINI-BRAINS 

The mini-brains in existence today are a long way from the complexity of a real brain, meaning their use in research is limited.

Scientists have also had problems with consistency, finding that each organ rarely grows in the same way even when developed using the same growth protocols and starting materials.

A new mini-brain growth technique using small 'organoids' allows for highly replicable modules of developing brain parts to be snapped together like building blocks.

The team, from Yale University in Connecticut, say this technique could allow for a higher level of mini-brain complexity and consistency.The researchers, from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, used stem cells to create and fuse two types of organoids from different brain regions.

They did this to show how the developing brain maintains proper balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurons.

A failure to maintain this balance has been linked with a host of developmental brain disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

'The inhibitory neurons migrate from specific areas of the embryonic brain to the region where excitatory neurons are being produced,' said study lead author Dr In-Hyun Park.

'What we did is to fuse these two areas and watched the process unfold.'

The Yale team used human stem cells, some derived from blood and others from embryonic stem cells, to grow an organoid called the human medial ganglionic eminence (MGE).

The MGE produces inhibitory neurons and plays a crucial but brief role in early development of the brain's cortex region.

By merging this structure with another that produces excitatory neurons they were able to track the movement of the inhibitory cells.

These provide a crucial 'brake' on excitatory neurons and so are needed to stop the development of several serious conditions linked to brain over-activity.

Understanding the process will not only help researchers study how the brain evolved, but also shed light on how imbalances contribute to many neurological disorders.

 The Yale team used human stem cells, some derived from blood and others from embryonic stem cells, to grow an organoid called the human medial ganglionic eminence (pictured)

This animation shows a cerebral organoid, or mini-brain, grown in a laboratory. It contains a diversity of cell types and internal structures that can make it a good stand-in for an actual brain in experiments (credit: Brown University)  

For instance, excess excitatory neuron activity has been linked to schizophrenia, while too much inhibitory neuronal activity may cause depression.

Evidence suggests that in these conditions, Dr Park told Quanta: 'There seems to be an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory neural activity.

'So those diseases can be studied using the current model that we've developed.' 

The imbalance has also been linked to development of autism spectrum disorders, he said.

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The organoids can connect together to form a functioning mini-mind that can help scientists to understand how the brain develops. Experts say the technique could also help researchers study degenerative brain diseases such as autism and schizophrenia (stock image)

The mini-brains in existence today are a long way from the complexity of a real brain, meaning their use in research is limited.

Scientists have also had problems with consistency, finding that the organs rarely grow uniformly even when developed using the same growth protocols and starting materials.

But the new organoid technique allows for highly replicable modules of developing brain parts to be snapped together like building blocks.

The Yale team suggest this technique could one day allow for a higher level of mini-brain complexity and consistency.