🦴 Scientists made a bone glue gun (and bacteria that glow when they find your microplastics)

Ever wanted to 3D print your own skeleton? Well, now you almost can. This week we're diving into surgical glue guns that squirt custom bones, bacteria that light up like Christmas trees when they spot plastic, and concrete that's literally alive (and probably judging your architectural choices). Oh, and someone finally noticed healthcare IT is older than your parents' CD collection. Science continues to be weirder than your cousin's conspiracy theories, but at least it's peer-reviewed!

Remember arts and crafts time? Korean scientists just brought that energy to the operating room with a 3D bioprinting gun that squirts molten bone goo directly into fractures. The device heats a mix of biodegradable polymer, actual bone minerals, and antibiotics to 60°C, then extrudes it like the world's most medical frosting. It hardens in 40 seconds, creating custom bone grafts that fit irregular breaks better than your ex fit into your friend group.

The rabbit trials went swimmingly (well, hoppingly). Test bunnies showed superior healing compared to commercial bone cement, with zero infections over 12 weeks as shown in the article published in the Device journal. The mixture includes hydroxyapatite, which sounds made up but is literally what your bones are made of, plus antibiotics baked right in because nobody wants infected skeleton putty.

We're still years away from your doctor wielding this bad boy. The tech can print scaffolding but struggles with blood vessels, which turns out bones really need. It's like building a house but forgetting the plumbing. Plus, even the successful rabbit bones weren't completely healed, more like "good enough for a rabbit."

Still, imagine rolling into the ER with a shattered tibia and watching them literally 3D print you a new bone section on the spot. Sure, it's a decade away, but your future broken bones are going to be so customizable. Probably with RGB lighting options by then.

Professor Sarfaraz K. Niazi claims he just convinced the FDA to skip clinical trials for biosimilar drugs, potentially saving 90% of costs. If true, this would make knockoff biologics cheaper than your monthly streaming subscriptions combined. There's just one tiny problem: nobody can find any actual FDA confirmation. Anywhere.

The press release says Niazi scored the "first-ever" waiver for monoclonal antibody biosimilars. Except the FDA already waived studies for insulin biosimilars in 2019. And teriparatide. And several others. It's like claiming you invented the sandwich while eating a BLT.

But wait, it gets better! Niazi also claims he "coined the term biosimilar," which is adorable considering the European Medicines Agency started using it in 2005. But we still digress, so we can’t be in someone’s head. That's still like saying you invented "selfie" in 2015. The timing is also suspicious, dropping right as eight ustekinumab biosimilars hit the market.

Until the FDA actually confirms this (spoiler: they haven't, at least we couldn’t find anything truly official), treat this story like that friend who definitely has a girlfriend in Canada. She's real, you just wouldn't know her; she goes to a different regulatory agency.

Scientists found bacteria that make Bear Grylls look like a quitter. Chroococcidiopsis survived 1.5 years strapped to the outside of the International Space Station, endured radiation that would kill you 2,400 times over, and photosynthesizes using light so red it's basically infrared. It's the Nokia 3310 of microorganisms.

The "eating Mars dust" claim needs clarification, though. It doesn't literally munch regolith like rocky popcorn. Instead, it grows on Martian soil simulants while being able to produce oxygen. Scientists at the University of Rome even grew it using synthetic urine as fertilizer, because apparently, even bacteria appreciate recycling.

This little overachiever handles temperatures down to -80°C and thrives in perchlorate-rich soil that would poison most Earth life. It's basically evolved for a planet that doesn't want it, which is very relatable content for anyone who's tried online dating.

Real Mars applications are still likely 15-20 years out, but imagine greenhouse modules where bacteria provide oxygen while growing on astronaut waste. It's gross, efficient, and exactly the kind of solution that makes engineers happy and everyone else uncomfortable. Your grandkids might breathe oxygen farted out by space bacteria. You're welcome, future Mars colonists.

The medical industry just realized its computer systems are older than TikTok users. Not by a little. By decades. Some hospitals literally run on COBOL code from when Jimmy Carter was president . Your doctor's office manages 200-300 different software systems that communicate as well as your family WhatsApp group.

The stats are painful: 60% of hospitals run critical apps on legacy software with zero modern connections. Healthcare data breaches cost $7.42 million on average (the highest of any industry), partly because their security is from the dial-up era. And 75% of IT budgets get eaten just keeping these zombie systems shambling along.

Sure, there's a $354 billion modernization wave coming, projected to hit $981 billion by 2032. But when your billing system thinks floppy disks are cutting edge, upgrading to cloud computing is like teaching your grandma to speedrun Dark Souls. Technically possible, practically painful.

The real tragedy? 71% of patients turn to Dr. Google after appointments because actual doctors hand them PDFs dense enough to bend light. We put a man on the moon using slide rules, but can't make medical records readable. Priorities, people.

Danish scientists created concrete that stores electricity using bacteria as tiny living wires. The Shewanella oneidensis bacteria create conductive networks, achieving 178.7 Wh/kg energy density in perfect lab conditions. A room made of the material could theoretically store 10 kWh, enough to run your beast of an overclocked gaming PC for like, three hours.

The bacteria function as biological supercapacitors, with microfluidic channels delivering bacterial Gatorade to keep them alive. When they inevitably die (because cement has a pH of 13 and bacteria prefer not being dissolved), their ghostly biofilms maintain 80% functionality. It's renewable energy powered by microscopic zombies.

The reality, though? Practical energy density might drop to 5 Wh/kg in real conditions, which is roughly 50 times worse than lithium batteries. Plus, keeping bacteria alive in alkaline cement is like keeping fish alive in Mountain Dew. Technically possible, ethically questionable, practically difficult.

But hey, the system survives 10,000 charge cycles and works from -15°C to 80°C. Your building could literally be a battery. Imagine your apartment storing solar power in its walls while bacteria slowly die for your Netflix binges. The future is wild and slightly disturbing.

Hong Kong scientists engineered bacteria that glow green when they detect microplastics, achieving detection sensitivity of 1 nanogram per milliliter. That's like finding a single grain of salt in an Olympic swimming pool, except the grain lights up and the pool is full of bacteria.

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa takes 3 hours to rat out plastic particles, compared to days with traditional methods. Current detection requires equipment costing more than a house. These bacteria need a basic fluorescent detector and some patience. It's democratizing pollution detection by making it accessible to anyone with a petri dish and a dream.

The system detected up to 100 parts per million microplastics in Hong Kong seawater and even spotted biodegradable plastics it wasn't trained on. Like a bloodhound that learned to find drugs but also alerts on organic kale. Overachiever bacteria make everyone else look bad.

Sure, there are limitations. False positives from organic molecules happen. The bacteria only live 72 hours refrigerated (longer than your leftovers, though). But transforming microplastic detection from "expensive lab analysis" to "glowing bacteria party" could revolutionize environmental monitoring. Your local river could have its own bacterial surveillance system. Big Brother, but make it microscopic and bioluminescent.

Another week, another reminder that scientists are just making stuff up as they go along, and somehow it works. From bone glue guns to bacterial batteries, we're living in a timeline where everything is possible but nothing is quite ready yet.

Which story made you question reality the most? Ready to 3D print your skeleton? Planning to power your house with dying bacteria? Hit reply and let us know which breakthrough has you reconsidering your life choices!

Share this with someone who thinks science peaked with the iPhone. We're still growing faster than bacteria in cement (before the pH kills them).

Stay weird, stay curious, and maybe check your water for glowing bacteria, Prateek & Jere

P.S. - If the bacterial batteries become sentient, we're blaming Denmark. You've been warned! 🧬✨