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PHOTONIC CRYSTALS: SEMICONDUCTORS OF LIGHT. "Nanostructured materials containing ordered arrays of holes could lead to an optoelectronics revolution, doing for light what silicon did for electrons. The key was proving the skeptics wrong by showing that it was possible to create for light the same kind of phenomenon seen in electronic semiconductors—namely, a so-called band gap" or the forbidden zone. https://lnkd.in/eKrjXgP View in LinkedIn

INFO PROCESSING IN THE TASTE BUD. "Taste information undergoes significant processing within the gustatory sensory organ, the taste bud, as well as between the taste bud and the cranial nerves that carry gustatory information to the central nervous system." https://lnkd.in/e9BxNzf View in LinkedIn

PROFESSOR YABLONOVITCH, a remarkable man with a stunning career. This award is just one of a string of honors for this truly innovative scientist who defied the skeptics and created 3D photonic crystals, exceeding what exists in nature. https://lnkd.in/es4HxUP View in LinkedIn

"SEROTONIN is thought to act as an intermediary hormone which communicates with taste cells within the taste bud, mediating signals sent to the brain." Serotonin halts the release of dopamine which is stimulated by the smell of food to increasing appetite, so serotonin actually decreases" "appetite. https://lnkd.in/eRhsNji View in LinkedIn

PHOTONIC CRYSTAL PRIZE. "Light crystals clinch physics medal. US physicist Eli Yablonovitch, who first created "photonic crystals" to repel, trap and steer light, will receive the Newton Medal from the UK's Institute of Physics." Announced yesterday, and a harbinger of more to come. Worthy of a brief digression from piezoelectricity. https://lnkd.in/eTY9nZ7 View in LinkedIn

MICROBIOTA MAKE KEY HORMONES. Fifty percent of our dopamine and 100% of our serotonin are controlled by the microbiota within our bodies. https://lnkd.in/es44Vig View in LinkedIn

MICROBIOTA AND SEROTONIN. "Brain levels of serotonin, "the happy hormone", are regulated by the amount of bacteria in the gut during early life." This is done by the microbiota inducing the synthetic enzymes of the gut epithelial which make serotonin. https://lnkd.in/e4_dhH7 View in LinkedIn

MANY PEPTIDES "produced in taste buds are known to affect appetite, satiety or metabolism through actions in the brain, pancreas and other organs." This large number of peptides originating from taste cells act as neurotransmitters and neurohormones. https://lnkd.in/e9BxNzf View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT IN NATURE continues this weekend with the theme started last weekend of the interaction of the microbiome with taste receptors and that effect on satiety, food selection and health. Taste buds are the gateway to satiety of the gut. The major microbiota biomass lives in the gut. The gut-CNS axis is very active. The microbiome is known to control many host behaviors. Thus, there must be a link between the gut microbiota and taste receptors. View in LinkedIn

CLUB SURYA in London is hoping that up to 60% of its sound and lighting will be powered from the piezoeffect of the dancers generating electricity. A similar venture exists at Club Watt in Rotterdam. https://lnkd.in/euycagV View in LinkedIn