Death-defying drug
Around 100,000 lives could be saved each year if heavily bleeding trauma patients were given infusions of a cheap clotting agent called tranexamic acid (TXA). In a trial involving 20,000 patients in 40 countries, TXA reduced the risk of bleeding to death by about a sixth (The Lancet, DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60835-5). No harmful side effects were reported.
Sail away
Japan’s IKAROS solar sail has successfully unfurled in space, and its solar cells are generating power. In the next few weeks, it will start to move using the momentum of photons, becoming the first spacecraft fully propelled by sunlight.…
