First anti-obesity electronic implant wins US approval

by Clare Wilson

From crash diets to stomach-stapling and jaw-wiring, it seems there's nothing people won't try to lose weight. Soon you may even be able to have an implant, one that works by blocking signals between the stomach and the brain.

The device, called the Maestro Rechargeable System, has just been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for people who are both severely obese – defined as those with a body mass index over 35 – and have a weight-related condition such as diabetes. Once fitted, it is recharged and adjusted wirelessly using an external controller. It is due to go on sale in the US later this year, with sales in other countries to follow.

The device doesn't seem to be the long-sought cure for obesity, though, as it leads to only modest weight loss – about 9 per cent. That compares with a 6 per cent weight loss in people who had a sham operation, in which the device was fitted but the electrodes were not connected.

Bypass or no?

"That's not a game changer," says Nick Finer of University College Hospital in London. If people are going to have surgery they would be better off having a gastric bypass, he suggests, which leads to greater weight loss. "It's extremely safe and durable."

However, obesity surgeon Scott Shikora, speaking for the device's manufacturer, EnteroMedics, says that some people dislike the idea of having their intestines "replumbed". "A lot of patients don't want the operations we are currently performing because they view them as being too risky or too radical," he says.

In a year-long trial of the Maestro system in 239 people, there were few serious side effects. But people who got the real implant were more likely to have indigestion, abdominal pain or nausea.

The company has not yet published the results of longer-term trials. But Shikora says one of these, smaller than the year-long study, suggests people's weight loss seems to plateau after about a year but is maintained for at least five years.

Vagus nerve

The signals blocked by the device travel along the vagus nerve, an important line of communication between the brain and several major organs. The electrodes wrap around the branch of the nerve connecting to the stomach. This contains both the neurons going from the stomach to the brain and those going back down to the stomach.

According to EnteroMedics, blocking this signalling pathway reduces stomach expansion and contraction, as well as the secretion of digestive enzymes. The net result is that people feel less hungry and their calorie intake is reduced.

"There's a treatment gap between diet and exercise and conventional surgery," says Shikora. "This would fit nicely between the two."

Other conditions can be treated by devices that stimulate the vagus nerve. A neck implant is used to reduce seizures in people with epilepsy, for instance, and a similar approach is being investigated to treat headaches, depression and tinnitus.

Learn Which Programming Language to Choose With This Infographic

The 11 Coolest Cars From the Detroit Auto Show

From the spectacularly ludicrous Ford GT supercar, to the Chevy concept that could beat Tesla in the race to build a practical electric, to the bonkers Mercedes-Benz concept that imagines a future where humans are just passengers.

Ford GT Supercar

This is Detroit, so it’s no surprise Ford came out with a loaded bazooka. Behold the latest incarnation of the Ford GT, the third generation of the automaker’s supercar. Carbon fiber everywhere and a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 engine make us very, very excited.

Ford GT Supercar

We don’t have exact specs yet, but the twin-turbo will send more than 600 brake horsepower to the rear wheels, and styling that’s all about aerodynamics have us thinking this thing’ll easily hit the 200 mph mark.

2016 nissan titan xd

For the all-new 2016 version of the Titan, Nissan wanted to go from a “play truck” to “a true work truck,” design boss Diane Allen told Car and Driver. After going nearly a decade without major changes, the Titan has a longer and higher nose and boasts an “anatomical feel.”

2016 nissan titan xd

More important than the look is what’s under the hood: An optional 5-liter V8 turbo diesel engine that will crank out 310 horsepower and an impressive 555 pound-feet of torque, which is what you need for serious hauling—up to 12,000 pounds.

Acura NSX

At the dawn of the 1990s, the Acura NSX proved Honda could do over-the-top amazing as well as solid and reliable. In Detroit, we got our first look at the production version of the latest generation NSX, three years in the making.

Acura NSX

The name is a slightly belabored acronym for “New Sports eXperience,” and while the new look isn’t as striking as the original was 25 years ago, there’s a lot going for it. Power comes from a twin-turbocharged V6 engine with a 9-speed dual clutch transmission, which, unfortunately, you can’t shift yourself.

Alfa Romeo 4C Spider

We’ve gotten to know and love the Alfa Romeo 4C, and now we’ve been officially introduced to its baby brother, the 4C Spider. The topless version gets the same 240 horsepower as the coupe, but it’ll feel like a lot more when you can actually feel the wind rush by.

alfa romeo 4c spider

To keep the weight down, Alfa used 10 percent thinner glass for the windows and windshield, so the Spider comes in just 22 pounds heavier than the coupe.

Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion

Unveiled in Las Vegas at CES and then shown off in Detroit, the Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion is a old, completely bonkers vision of a future in which we become entirely optional behind the wheel.

Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion

The interior, with front seats that rotate to face the rear, creates a communal space. The vehicle is controlled through hand gestures, eye-tracking, and touchscreens. Everything has LEDs. When the car senses a pedestrian ahead, it can project a crosswalk onto the ground.

Buick Avenir Concept

“Buick made this?” We assume that’s what you’re thinking, because it’s the first thing that went through our minds, too. The Avenir—the French word for “future—is a sleek concept for a flagship sedan that’s a big step away from the Brand’s usual, un-astonishing and inoffensive fare.

2015-Buick-Avenir-Concept-017

Sitting on 21-inch wheels and powered by a direct-injected V6 engine, the Avenir is a vision of where Buick design could go, says GM design boss Ed Welburn. Please, please, go there.

Chevy Bolt Concept

The Chevy Bolt is a concept, yes, but a preview of a battery electric production car that GM CEO Mary Barra says will deliver more than 200 miles of range for a base price around $30,000 (after the obligatory $7,500 federal tax credit).

Chevrolet Unveils Bolt EV and Next -Generation Volt

It’s loaded with lightweight materials like aluminum, magnesium, carbon fiber, and, apparently, “woven mesh.” A lighter car requires less energy to propel, thereby increasing range. Vented rear fenders and an integrated rear spoiler help with aerodynamics, which also will boost range.

2016 Chevy Volt

On top of teasing us with the all-electric concept Bolt, Chevy brought the new, 2016 Volt to Detroit. Three years after putting the original Volt into production, the automaker took lesson learned and evolved technology and put them to use.

2016 Chevrolet Volt

Changes include a fifth seat (which still doesn’t look too comfortable) and a new two-motor drive unit that’s 12 percent more efficient and 100 pounds lighter than the original. The battery pack offers 18.4 kWh, and it’s 20 pounds lighter than its 400-pound predecessor.

Porsche 911 Targa 4 GTS

The 911 Targa, unveiled a year ago with its seemingly magical pop-top, was the most beautiful open-top 911 since the original Targa appeared in 1967. Porsche upped in Detroit with the 911 Targa 4 GTS, the long-awaited marriage of Targa style and the sharpened handling and performance of the company’s GTS models.

Porsche 911 Targa 4 GTS

You’ll want the seven-speed manual transmission, which comes standard. But if you can’t handle three pedals, get the double-clutch gearbox that changes gears in milliseconds. Letting the computer do the shifting for you shaves your zero to sixty time another three-tenths to a mere 4.1 seconds.

Jaguar F-Pace Teaser

Consumers are so obsessed with crossovers, even Jaguar is joining the trend. In Detroit, the brand known for sports cars and luxury sedans announced the F-PACE, which design director Ian Callum calls “our family sports car.”

Jag C-X17

The car will be built on a new platform shared by the XE sedan. It’s supposed to resemble the C-X17 concept, pictured here. Given the outstanding design work Callum has put in for the brand lately, it’s a safe bet it’ll come out looking good.

Tesla P85D

Tesla didn’t bring the Model X, its upcoming SUV model, to Detroit, but it did ship in the P85D, the dual-motor, extra powerful electric sedan it unveiled back in October.

Tesla P85D

Yes, we’ve seen it before, but it’s still one of the coolest cars you’ll find on the show floor. In addition to sending power to all four wheels, good for snowy climes, the system will boost the already impressive acceleration and the top speed. The P85D will get to 60 mph a full second faster than the current top of the line Tesla, the P85. It will max out at 155 mph instead of 130.

THE NORTH AMERICAN International Auto Show is the biggest event of the year for the American auto industry. It's the time when Ford, GM, Chrysler, and all the foreign brands that want to sell their cars here gather in Detroit to show off their best work. The fastest sports cars. The strongest pickup trucks. The most family friendly people haulers.

The show opens to the public this weekend, and everyone willing to spend $13 and suffer Detroit in the snow will be able to get up close to some of the newest and coolest cars on the planet. As usual, Cobo Hall is stuffed with more than 500 cars, so it's hard to know where to start.

To help guide you through the show, the biggest in the country, we've selected the 11 coolest cars on display. From the spectacularly ludicrous Ford GT supercar, to the Chevy concept that could beat Tesla in the race to build a practical electric, to the bonkers Mercedes-Benz concept that imagines a future where humans are just passengers, click through our gallery to see what's best in Detroit in 2015.

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SoloHealth is raising another $15M for its consumer biometric health kiosks

Mark Sullivan

Those sit-down-and-get-checked health kiosks you see in grocery and drug stores are becoming a thing.

SoloHealth‘s says its brand of the health kiosks are being used by 130,000 people every day. The kiosks are in 3,500 Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Safeway stores.

And now, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company is raising another $15 million to add to the roughly $26 million its raised so far. The company has already raised $4.3 million, with more than $10 million to go.

SoloHealth is backed by WellPoint, Novartis, Dell, and Coinstar.

One new investor has already jumped in on this new round — Walter Huff, founder of the late, great health informatics company HBO & Company (acquired by McKesson).

SoloHealth’s unwieldy-looking kiosks measure the user’s blood pressure, vision, weight, and body mass index. The data is stored in the company’s cloud, and can be accessed online by the user.

The Atlanta-based company didn’t respond to requests for further information.

Absurd Creature of the Week: The Beautiful Octopus Whose Sex Is All About Dismemberment

What are you doing in that shell, little octopus? You don’t belong in a shell. Go home. You’re drunk.  © D. Parer & E. Parer-Cook/Minden Pictures/Corbis

In Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the crew of the Nautilus takes a break from going for swims and pissing off native islanders to admire an armada of strange beasts floating along the surface, swimming backward by blasting water out of their bodies. “Six of their eight tentacles were long, thin, and floated on the water, while the other two were rounded into palms and spread to the wind like light sails,” notes our trusty narrator.
It’s an actual animal, alright, a rare and bizarre octopus that swims the open ocean: the argonaut. But those arms are no sails. (The myth persists in its name, though—the Argonauts being the Greek heroes who sailed around having sweet adventures.) The female argonaut uses them to form what is surely one of the most beautiful animal-made structures on Earth, an exceedingly delicate shell that she uses not to protect herself, but to house her young out there in the treacherous expanses of the sea. The males, though—things aren’t so great for them. Like, a sexual-dismemberment type of not so great.

Incredibly, females are up to 600 times the weight of the diminutive males, which grow to less than half an inch long and never build shells. According to marine biologist James Wood, though, there’s still a whole lot we don’t know about this mysterious creature, and its mating habits are no exception. What we do know is that when the male and female hook up, the male leaves something behind—other than sperm, of course. Specifically, it’s a specially adapted arm called ahectocotylus, “and there a little grooves on the arm that the sperm travels down and goes into the female’s oviduct,” Wood said. “So it’s not the penis. The penis is sort of inside the male, but that reproductive arm is used to transfer the sperm inside the female.”

The argonaut’s gorgeous shell posing on a beach all seductive-like.  Dimitri Otis/Getty Images

When he jets away, the arm snaps off and stays with the female. It’s not clear if the male dies after copulation, but if he survives, the arm would probably grow back, because octopuses happen to be good regenerators. Some females have even been found with multiple hectocotyli in their shells from multiple males. Unsurprisingly, this odd sex caused quite some confusion for early observers. The famed 18th- and 19th-century naturalist Georges Cuvier determined the hectocotylus to be aspecies of parasitic worm, seeing things like a digestive tract that most certainly weren’t there (the name hectocotylus means “hollow thing”).

While almost all octopus species lay their eggs in crevices and caves and such, as an open-ocean swimmer, the argonaut has no such luxury. So as she grows, the female continually builds her shell—which is so thin it’s translucent—with those rounded arms, which secrete the mineral calcite. And when she’s finally ready to have kids, she’s got nice little crib for them. “So they can put them in this shell and they’re protected from the outside,” Wood said. “And the octopus can take care of them and brood them and clean them, make sure there’s no parasites, and oxygenate them.”

Argonauts can pop out of their shells whenever they like, unlike sea turtles. Also unlike sea turtles is pretty much everything else about the argonaut.  Marevision/Getty Images

That shell serves another rather more cryptic purpose. I don’t want to tell them how to live their lives, but octopuses are supposed to be crawling around the sea floor, not floating around in the open ocean, and this presents the problem of buoyancy. Fish solve this with a gas-filled sac called a swim bladder, as do at least two other species of open-ocean octopuses, but the argonaut has a different solution.

By periodically coming to the surface and “gulping” air into its shell, the female can “seal off the captured gas using flanged arms and forcefully dive to a depth where the compressed gas buoyancy counteracts body weight,” wrote the researcherswho discovered the function in 2010. And as her eggs grow and get heavier and heavier, she’ll be able to adjust for the added weight in this way. This is vitally important for a free-swimming octopus because constantly adjusting to maintain position sucks up a whole lot of energy. By becoming neutrally buoyant, the argonaut can kick back and relax.

The argonaut’s distant cousin, the nautilus.  Schristia/Flickr

The argonaut’s distant cephalopod cousin, the nautilus, accomplishes the same thing with its own shell, which is much thicker so as to function as armor and is permanently attached, whereas the argonaut can pop out of its shell whenever it likes. In fact, all cephalopods descended from shelled ancestors, but something happened over the course of their evolution that made them evolve away that shell—save for the nautilus, which is truly an ancient species. (The argonaut is also known somewhat confusingly as the paper nautilus, but again, they’re only distantly related.)

It may have been the case that big rude predators came along and were strong enough to break through those shells. “I use this analogy that we had knights and they would wear plate mail armor, so you had big heavy guys with big heavy armor and that was pinnacle of military combat,” said Wood. “And then we invented rifles and now a guy in heavy plate mail armor is a big slow target, because the ball is going to go through the plate mail, and it made it obsolete.”

Cephalopods were forced to adapt and develop new strategies or face extinction, and today we see them diversified into all manner of forms. While the argonaut’s shell is worthless as armor, the octopus still packs that iconic ink defense. Another species, the mimic octopus, seems to imitate other creatures you wouldn’t want to mess with like sea snakes and lionfish. And cuttlefish are absolute masters of camouflage, somehow blending into pretty much any environment even though they’re colorblind, which is…problematic if you’re a fan of reason. And almost all cephalopods have evolved an intelligence that is at times startling.

What’s interesting about the argonaut is that its ancestors long ago evolved away the shell, then later on evolved an entirely new way of constructing it and an entirely new use for it as a reproductive aid. Still, though, it arrived at the same solution to the buoyancy problem that the early cephalopods solved with their own shells, which just goes to show what an endlessly creative force evolution is.

Perhaps I’m making the argonaut seem like a helpless floating piece of meat, though. Like any other cephalopod, this is a voracious carnivore, targeting all kinds of crustaceans and sea slugs and other free-swimming prey. Once it’s got a hold on the quarry, the argonaut gnaws into the victim with its beak and injects a toxin (the chemicals at work here differ between cephalopods, and it’s not yet known what’s in the argonauts, according to Wood). Then, using a conveyor belt of tiny teeth known as a radula, it’ll scrape away the meat—or in the case of a hard-shelled prey, scoop out the contents through the hole created by the beak.

So after 500 million years of beautiful evolution, cephalopods are still kicking plenty of ass, be they shelled or otherwise (the cephalopods, not the asses). A pack of giant squid even effed up Captain Nemo and his crew in a fierce 15-minute battle, losing many an arm but gaining a sailor as a snack in the process.

“Defeated, mutilated, battered to death,” wrote the narrator, “the monsters finally yielded to us and disappeared beneath the waves.

“Red with blood, motionless by the beacon, Captain Nemo stared at the sea that had swallowed one of his companions, and large tears streamed from his eyes.”

That’s fiction though, isn’t it. Alright, disregard.

First new antibiotic in 30 years discovered in major breakthrough

The discovery of Teixobactin could pave the way for a new generation of antibiotics because of the way it was discovered.

By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor

Teixobactin has been found to treat many common bacterial infections such as tuberculosis Photo: Alamy

The first new antibiotic to be discovered in nearly 30 years has been hailed as a ‘paradigm shift’ in the fight against the growing resistance to drugs.

Teixobactin has been found to treat many common bacterial infections such as tuberculosis, septicaemia and C. diff, and could be available within five years.

But more importantly it could pave the way for a new generation of antibiotics because of the way it was discovered.

Scientists have always believed that the soil was teeming with new and potent antibiotics because bacteria have developed novel ways to fight off other microbes.

But 99 per cent of microbes will not grow in laboratory conditions leaving researchers frustrated that they could not get to the life-saving natural drugs.

Now a team from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, have discovered a way of using an electronic chip to grow the microbes in the soil and then isolate their antibiotic chemical compounds.

They discovered that one compound, Teixobactin, is highly effective against common bacterial infections Clostridium difficile, Mycobacterium tuberculous and Staphylococcus aureus.

Professor Kim Lewis, Director of the Antimicrobial Discovery Centre said: “Apart from the immediate implementation, there is also I think a paradigm shift in our minds because we have been operating on the basis that resistance development is inevitable and that we have to focus on introducing drugs faster than resistance

“Teixobactin shows how we can adopt an alternative strategy and develop compounds to which bacteria are not resistant.”

The first antibiotic Penicillin, was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and more than 100 compounds have been found since, but no new class has been found since 1987.

The lack of new drugs coupled with over-prescribing has led to bacteria becoming increasingly resistant to modern medicines.

Dame Sally Davies, the government’s Chief Medical Officer, said antibiotic resistant was ‘as big a risk of terrorism; and warned that Britain faced returning to a 19th century world where the smallest infection or operation could kill.

The World Health Oganisation has also classified antimicrobial resistance as a "serious threat’ to every region of the world which ‘has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country"

However the new discovery offers hope that many new antibiotics could be found to fight bacterial infections.

Crucially, the scientists believe that bacteria will not become resistant to Teixobactin for at least 30 years because of its multiple methods of attack.

Testing on mice has already shown that the antibiotic works well at clearing infections, without side-effects. The team is now concentrating on upscaling production so that it could be tested in humans.

“Right now we can deliver a dose that cures mice and a variety of models of infection and we can deliver 10 mg per kg so it correlates well with human usage,” added Professor Lewis.

The breakthrough was heralded by scientists who said it could prove a ‘game-changer’ in the struggle against antimicrobial resistance.

Prof Laura Piddock, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Birmingham, said: “The screening tool developed by these researchers could be a ‘game changer’ for discovering new antibiotics as it allows compounds to be isolated from soil producing micro-organisms that do not grow under normal laboratory conditions.”

Prof Mark Woolhouse, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, from the University of Edinburgh added: “Any report of a new antibiotic is auspicious, but what most excites me about the paper is the tantalising prospect that this discovery is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Most antibiotics are natural products derived from microbes in the soil. The ones we have discovered so far come from a tiny subset of the rich diversity of microbes that live there.

“Lewis et al. have found a way to look for antibiotics in other kinds of microbe, part of the so-called microbial “dark matter” that is very difficult to study.”

Dr Angelika Gründling, Reader in Molecular Microbiology, Imperial College London said the discovery , ‘raises our hopes that new antibiotics can be brought to the clinics in the not too distant future.’

“The great hope is now that many more new antibiotics can be uncovered in a similar manner.”

Public Health England also welcomed the breakthrough.

“The rise in antibiotic resistance is a threat to modern healthcare as we know it so this discovery could potentially help to bridge the ever increasing gap between infections and the medicines we have available to treat them,” said Prof Neil Woodford, Head of Public Health England’s Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections Reference Unit.

The research was published in the journal Nature.