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Putin has approved changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine. We speak to political editor, Nicholas Cecil. Patient blood could repair bones, Professor Alvaro Mata of pharmacy and chemical engineering, at the University of Nottingham, explains the study. Plus, The Game Awards 2024 with culture writer, and tv and games editor, Vicky Jessop.
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Here’s a fully automated transcript:
Hey, welcome back to The Standard's Tech and Science Daily podcast.
I'm Rachelle Abbott.
Coming up, transforming blood into regenerative materials and nominations for the Game Awards 2024 are in.
But first, Vladimir Putin has intensified the threat of a nuclear attack if US-supplied longer range missiles are fired by Ukraine into Russia.
For the latest, we have The London Standard's political editor Nicholas Cecil.
So, Vladimir Putin has updated Russia's nuclear doctrine to effectively say that if there's a conventional attack on Russia by a country supported by a nuclear power, that will be considered a joint attack on his country.
The move follows Joe Biden's decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied ATA CMS longer range missiles.
The Kremlin spokesman said it was a timely decision by the Russian president.
Now, does this mean we are about to see the Ukraine conflict escalate into a nuclear war?
It is widely understood that China has warned Russia against using nuclear weapons.
So, it would be a dramatic development if Putin decided to do so, especially given that Joe Biden is only going to be president for a month or so longer.
And then Donald Trump will take over.
Putin is likely to hope that he can get a far better deal from Trump than he would from Biden in terms of any peace agreement to end this conflict.
Next, scientists have discovered how to transform blood into regenerative materials, which they say paves the way for personalised 3D printed implants such as for broken bones.
We have evolved to heal our tissues.
If we break or rupture a tissue, we will regenerate it as long as it is at a small scale.
What that means is that at a small scale, there is a healing process that has been optimised by evolution that allows us to regenerate this tissue.
What we've done is to work with that healing process so that we are able to amplify it and enhance it so that we can regenerate larger ruptures, larger fractures and more compromised scenarios that require regeneration.
That's Professor Alvaro Mata with Pharmacy and Chemical Engineering at the University of Nottingham who led this study.
That liquid blood, when there's an injury, it begins to be transformed into a solid.
And that solid, it's called the regenerative hematoma.
It's an incredibly rich environment that is producing all kinds of molecules and cells that are critical for regeneration.
You can imagine it as being a factory of molecules and cells that are critical for regeneration.
Researchers have been working on the study for seven years with funding and COVID-delays.
The way we do this is we use these small peptides.
These are very small molecules and we use them to interact with components of blood.
So all you need to do is you mix these small molecules with blood taken from a patient and that triggers coagulation and the assembly of these molecules.
There are some processes at the molecular and cellular level that takes place.
But what's important to know is that we're enabling that natural coagulation and a natural formation of the hematoma with minor modifications so that we can improve the mechanical properties.
We can improve the signaling and bioactive properties of that material.
We were able to do that and then we tested it both in vitro and in animal models.
And in both, we had a very positive response.
Professor Mata says 50% of the world's population does not have access to even the most basic health care and that the hope is to make this a simple process for all doctors and surgeons.
This study is published in Advanced Materials.
Now, it's that time of year again The Game Awards 2024 nominations
We're joined by our culture writer and TV and Games editor, The London Standard's Vicky Jessop.
So what's nominated for Game of the Year?
We've got Astro Bot, I think that's going to be the favourite.
We've got Balatro, which is the only Game of the Year nomination by an indie developer.
We've got Black Myth: Wukong.
We've got Elden Ring Shadow of the Erd Tree, to be honest.
This is a bit of a stretch, it's technically a DLC, but it's had amazing reviews.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth from Square Enix.
We've got the JRPG Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Yeah, those are our nominees.
Vicky, are you at all surprised by any of the noms?
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erd Tree, as I said, it's not technically a game in its own right.
It's a DLC, which implies they're scraping the barrel for good nominations to put forward this year.
Balatro, I suppose.
I guess it proves the point that a game doesn't have to be massively complicated or a AAA title to be great.
I don't think the Balatro team were expecting to get a nomination for Game of the Year.
The LocalThunk, who is a developer, said it was surreal to be nominated.
It's always nice to see indie talent being championed.
I think Astro Bot in the sense that it was a surprise hit.
I'm not surprised to see it nominated because it's an amazing game.
I don't think anyone expected that it would be as good as it was when it came out.
I think everyone was treating it as, oh, this is just a fun little way to test the PlayStation 5's controller, all of its capabilities.
But what we ended up with was an absolutely fantastic platformer that's actually surprisingly difficult and really imaginative and kind of brings together PlayStation's different properties in a way that doesn't actually feel like them force-feeding you, you know, like PlayStation merch, PlayStation merch.
Let's go to the ads.
Coming up in part two, “the first taste of winter.”
See you back here in just a minute.
Welcome back.
Some of you may have woken up to a blanket of snow today and if you're in London, maybe just some sleet.
However, this has been described as “the first taste of winter” and has caused train delays and severe warnings across the UK.
The Met Office put three yellow warnings for snow and ice in place in the North, the Midlands, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, advising that vehicles could be stranded, power cuts may occur and rural areas could be cut off.
have also been warnings from health charities such as the Alzheimer's Society, Age UK and Asthma + Lung UK.
Next, move over Gladiator 2.
The London Standard has visited the capital's Roman Amphitheatre as part of their Hidden Gems series.
Located beneath the Guildhall Art Gallery and measuring 100 by 85 metres, it held up to 6,000 spectators.
Not only was this place used for fighting animals and the actual gladiatorial games, but I've discovered only a couple of years ago that actively most of the people that were fighting here were women.
And in fact, the majority of the audiences were also women.
So it's an interesting take on how Roman London was back then, almost 2,000 years ago.
That's Munsur Ali, City of London Chair of Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee.
To read the full article by the London Standard's India Block, hit the link in our show notes.
We've also included a link to a video narrated and produced by Chloe Cobham.
And finally, ‘stop chasing on-the-run emu in your 4x4s.’
…That’s a request from Lincolnshire Police.
There have been reports of a flightless, still very fast walking and quite pecky bird in the Spilsby area for a couple of weeks now, according to police.
The UK's National Exotics Animal Rescue Service is trying to gain her trust so she can be rescued safely.
In a post on Facebook, local police have said that efforts are being scuppered and staff and volunteers are concerned because members of the public have been chasing her in 4x4s.
There are understandable fears that this could cause accidental harm to both the public and the animal.
It's currently unclear where the emu escaped from.
You're up to date.
Come back at 4pm for The Standard podcast.
For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk
