Bones

Presently, orthopedic surgeons use screwed-in metal plates to hold unstable broken bones together. There may soon be a less problematic, more customizable alternative, though, which incorporates a light-cured composite material.

A study is offering insights into the nutritional, cardiovascular and growth differences between vegan, vegetarian and meat-eating children. It found vegans have healthier cardiovascular profiles but are shorter and display bone mineral deficiencies.

The people of Singapore consume a lot of fish, and – perhaps surprisingly to some of us – a lot of frog meat. Scientists have now developed a method of converting the waste from both foods into a material that helps bone to regrow.

For some time now, we've been hearing about scaffolding-like implants that encourage bone tissue or cartilage to grow back into areas where it's missing. Now, scientists have developed a method for more quickly and easily 3D-printing such implants.

Scientists have developed a new way to patch up injuries by 3D printing both hard and soft tissues at the same time, using two different “bioinks.” In tests on rats, the team was able to repair holes in the skulls and skin of the rodents in minutes.

It’s easy to assume tyrannosaurs didn’t need much help bringing down prey. But contrary to the popular image of these predators being lone hunters, new analysis of a mass grave site adds to evidence that tyrannosaurs may have lived and hunted in packs.

Pterosaurs included the largest flying animals ever, and a new study has uncovered biological secrets that helped them grow so large. CT scans revealed that the neck vertebrae of giant pterosaurs had a supporting structure unlike any other animal.

In case there was ever any doubt … atrocities are nothing new. Scientists have recently determined that piled human remains unearthed in what is now Potočani, Croatia, represent the earliest-known indiscriminate mass killing.

By taking their microscopes to the skeletal structures of the human body, scientists have unearthed an entirely new type of bone cell, one they believe may play an important role in the development of osteoporosis and other bone diseases.

Scientists at the University of Buffalo have found a very useful clue shedding light on the migration of canines to the Americas, in the DNA of an ancient bone fragment thought to be the oldest confirmed dog remains in the region.

It can be tricky enough getting titanium implants to bond with the surrounding bone, but when the patient has osteoporosis, things get even harder. An experimental coating may help, though, by first boosting and then blocking inflammation.

Presently, if a patient is missing a section of bone, it has to be replaced with bone harvested from elsewhere in their body. A new cell-containing gel, however, could one day be 3D printed right into the injury, where it would then harden.