Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scientists Turn Wood Into Bone

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the better-golems-on-the-way dept.

Bob the Super Hamster writes "The BBC is reporting that scientists in Italy have developed a method to convert rattan wood into a bone-like substance. The bone replacement is currently being tested in sheep, where, when inserted into the area of a fracture, it joins with the existing bone and eventually fuses. Unlike other bone replacements, this one actually has load-bearing ability and also naturally fuses with the existing bone. Additionally, since it is porous like real bone, nerves and blood vessels can pass through it."

17 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now you gotta watch for termites

  2. Ninja pirates. by Xoltri · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now we will have pirates with non obvious wooden legs. I will call them Ninja Pirates. I wonder how this will affect global warming.

    --
    -Xoltri
  3. Dupezilla strike again. by sadness203 · · Score: 5, Informative
    http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/08/10/1840220/Scientists-Create-Artificial-Bones-From-Wood

    Same editor.

    1. Re:Dupezilla strike again. by royallthefourth · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Some stories kick so much ass that I don't mind reading them twice.

    2. Re:Dupezilla strike again. by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh, what are you complaining about?

      When an artificial hip, or other load-bearing bone implant, has a higher modulus than bone (and they invariably do), they cause the load to be transmitted unevenly to the bone. The artificial hip is on a pin that goes down into the marrow on the top of the femur. In natural loading, each segment of bone (taken from top to bottom) is loaded equally in compression. With an artificial hip implanted, some of the force is transmitted directly to a deeper part of the femur. The top of the bone is loaded less heavily than it would have been under natural circumstances.

      There. I've just become automatically plus five insightful, thanks to this guy. Free karma, THAT is how you do it.

      --
      Qxe4
  4. Pirate Technology has come a long way by decipher_saint · · Score: 4, Funny

    Pirate Technology has come a long way since the peg leg.

    --
    crazy dynamite monkey
  5. Wood vs Bone by mooingyak · · Score: 4, Funny

    I always thought that wood and bone pretty much referred to the same thing.

    --
    William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
    1. Re:Wood vs Bone by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Boned" != "Wooded"

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    2. Re:Wood vs Bone by mooingyak · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Boned" != "Wooded"

      True enough, but in order for someone to be boned, the bone goes where it's wooded.

      --
      William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
    3. Re:Wood vs Bone by Dishevel · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No. The bone goes where it is Bushy not wooded.

      --
      Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
    4. Re:Wood vs Bone by mooingyak · · Score: 2, Funny

      The difference between bushy and wooded is the depth of the foliage.

      --
      William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
  6. Pfeh by Godji · · Score: 2, Informative

    I do that every time I get an erection.

    1. Re:Pfeh by ArsonSmith · · Score: 5, Funny

      are you doing trials in sheep?

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
  7. "You said 'wood'." by ClioCJS · · Score: 3, Funny
    Huh uhuhuhuhuhu huu huh huh huh huh huh huh huhuhuh huh.... You said "wood".

    Yeah.. Heh heh M heh he.... And then you said "bone". Hehehehehehemehh.

    --
    -Clio
    Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
    Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
  8. Prior Art by simonsays22 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Toad the Wet Sproket has already done that. They even walked on the ocean and turned flesh into water, too.

  9. Flesh becomes water... by weston · · Score: 2, Funny

    Everybody sing along now...

    --
    Tweet, tweet.
  10. Obscene... by mi · · Score: 2, Funny

    Scientists change a woody into a boner. Khmm...

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.