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> "But what I really wanted to know was: is there something these cancers have in common? That's why I put them in the microgravity device." What is this micro

> "But what I really wanted to know was: is there something these cancers have in common? That's why I put them in the microgravity device." What is this microgravity device? A quick web search was inconclusive. Before anyone answers this, I would like to guess. Is it either real levitation by (dia)magnetic levitation (when levitating a live frog was possible years ago, levitating a tiny amount of cells in a desktop device should be possible by now?) or maybe something that makes the effect of gravity average out, e.g. floating clusters of cells in a fluid to reduce the net force and maybe even rotate them (or let them rotate freely), so that there is no longer a preferred direction in the cluster (which is what I guess is what is important here)?

_Microft 7y ago
Rotation, it is. Thanks to thegabriele who posted a link to a page that contains a short video of the device: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/choucollective/curing-diseases-in-space https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/choucollective/curing-d...
- tehsauce 7y ago
  I see the gif! Too bad rotation is not at all the same as microgravity... Why would they think going all the way to space would have any improvement over their tumbling device?
eps 7y ago
The KS page from the sibling post has a gif of their device. It's merely a slowly rotating stand with a bottle duck-taped to it. The description is as follows: We are considered the world leaders in space biology/medicine, owing it to our development of advanced space technologies including a cell biology dedicated microgravity device capable of simulating the environment of space and the gravity of different planets!! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/choucollective/curing-diseases-in-space https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/choucollective/curing-d...
Roark66 7y ago
>> "But what I really wanted to know was: is there something these cancers have in common? That's why I put them in the microgravity device." What is this microgravity device? A quick web search was inconclusive. They didn't specify what kind of microgravity device was used, but IMO none of the techniques we have are a "real" micro gravity. According to this: http://www.grimm-space-research.com/RPM/RPM.html http://www.grimm-space-research.com/RPM/RPM.html There are three types of micro gravity devices.I think their types 2 and 3 are very similar: - simulating micro gravity by counteracting gravitational forces (think frog magnetic levitation) - simulating micro gravity by averaging gravitational forces by rotation. In both cases the culture experiences simulation of micro gravity, but to test this in practice the cells have to be sent to space with control.

_Microft 7y ago

Rotation, it is. Thanks to thegabriele who posted a link to a page that contains a short video of the device: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/choucollective/curing-diseases-in-space https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/choucollective/curing-d...

tehsauce 7y ago
I see the gif! Too bad rotation is not at all the same as microgravity... Why would they think going all the way to space would have any improvement over their tumbling device?

eps 7y ago

The KS page from the sibling post has a gif of their device. It's merely a slowly rotating stand with a bottle duck-taped to it. The description is as follows: We are considered the world leaders in space biology/medicine, owing it to our development of advanced space technologies including a cell biology dedicated microgravity device capable of simulating the environment of space and the gravity of different planets!! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/choucollective/curing-diseases-in-space https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/choucollective/curing-d...

Roark66 7y ago

>> "But what I really wanted to know was: is there something these cancers have in common? That's why I put them in the microgravity device." What is this microgravity device? A quick web search was inconclusive. They didn't specify what kind of microgravity device was used, but IMO none of the techniques we have are a "real" micro gravity. According to this: http://www.grimm-space-research.com/RPM/RPM.html http://www.grimm-space-research.com/RPM/RPM.html There are three types of micro gravity devices.I think their types 2 and 3 are very similar: - simulating micro gravity by counteracting gravitational forces (think frog magnetic levitation) - simulating micro gravity by averaging gravitational forces by rotation. In both cases the culture experiences simulation of micro gravity, but to test this in practice the cells have to be sent to space with control.