Wingardium Leviosa!
It may look like magic, but you won’t find any sorcery here. A new device developed by Stanford Medicine researchers uses magnetic levitation to noninvasively sort cells—cancer cells from healthy ones, or live ones from dead—and has the potential to sharpen the precision of clinical and genomic testing.
The Electro-LEV suspends cells between two magnets, separating them based on their density and magnetic susceptibility. (Dead cells, for example, have damaged membranes, so they tend to sink.) The approach could make it easier to work with low-volume biopsy samples and to weed out dead cells when it matters most—say, in stem cell transplantation, where the presence of dead cells can trigger dangerous inflammatory responses. By fine-tuning the electric current, scientists can modify the magnetic force in real time. “It’s a broad, versatile platform,” said Gözde Durmuş, an assistant professor of radiology and the senior author of the new study. “I think there will be applications that we haven’t even thought of yet.”
You can have too many plants.
Research has shown that indoor nature and natural materials—such as houseplants or wood furniture—reduces stress while increasing feelings of belonging and restoration. But past studies have generally focused only on comparing greenery vs. no greenery or on subjective levels of nature (small, medium, and large amounts). In a recent study, Stanford researchers designed virtual offices with varying percentages of nature and natural elements and materials, then introduced stressors, like asking participants to count backward from 1,022 by increments of 13. Participants felt most calm and connected when about 20 percent of their indoor view included nature. However, when the “dose” increased to around 60 percent, their self-reported stress levels actually rose. The finding challenges the notion that more nature is always better. The key may be to make sure that the elements you’re putting inside a space “will successfully make the occupants feel connected to nature,” said the study’s lead author, Eva Bianchi, PhD ’25. So, add a few plants or a wooden bookcase. But maybe don’t go full botanical garden; you’d forget to water it, anyway.
Friday night par-tee.
Photo: Jack Tse
On a recent Friday evening, nearly 300 students of all golf experience levels made their way to Stanford’s driving range for a Cardinal Nights event featuring a live DJ, sliders, and unlimited golf balls.
Won’t you still be my neighbor?
“It’s OK to be a hot mess,” said Michele Judd, ’87, at the first meeting of the Order of the Phoenix nearly a year ago. She had gathered friends and neighbors at a pizzeria nine days after the Eaton Fire in Southern California destroyed their Altadena homes. Judd’s vision was simple but profound: Keep the community intact by keeping in touch. It’s a concept known in the disaster world as social cohesion: “The more that people know each other and get together the better,” said Luke Beckman, ’09, the Red Cross disaster director for California. Today, the Order numbers about 200, several dozen of whom gather monthly to share potluck dishes, grieve for what they lost, and look ahead as they rise from the ashes.
Give ’em the Axe.
On November 22, the Cardinal will take the field for the 128th Big Game. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the most tragic Big Game matchup, when hundreds of fans angling for a view caused a rickety San Francisco rooftop to collapse in the worst accident ever at a U.S. sporting event. But it also marks 50 years of a much more lighthearted legacy: the Big Game in which Chris Hutson, ’76, MS ’77, arrived in the stadium after a night of crafting red construction paper, a scuba harness, and a Styrofoam cone into the first Stanford Tree. “What could be a more absurd idea for a mascot than an essentially immovable, ubiquitous object?” said Eric Strandberg, ’76, one of the Band members who came up with the idea. In 11 days, tailgate wisely, Cardinal fans, and beat the Weenies.
But wait, there’s more . . .
November 4 was Democracy Day on campus. Here’s what 10 students say civic engagement means to them.
Placing a breathing tube at 160 mph? It’s all in a day’s work aboard the Stanford Medicine Life Flight helicopter, which began its fifth decade with a new, state-of-the-art Airbus H145 D3.
One-third of the planet’s 500 shark species are on the brink of extinction. A new Stanford-led analysis reveals that, if those extinctions come to pass, Earth’s oceans would only have medium-sized sharks in a narrow band of mid-ocean depths.
Speaking of sharks, Max Arseneault, ’19, MS ’21, wants to photograph every species. He spends his free time getting chummy with them.
Stanford’s Automotive Innovation Facility is being transformed into the Clubhouse for Hardware Innovation Projects (CHIP), a new hub for clubs engaged in physical hardware design, arts, and engineering projects—from the Stanford Solar Car Project to FashionX.
Last summer, the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine opened in Arkansas, bolstered by a collaboration with Stanford Medicine faculty, who help teach students, mentor faculty, and contribute to a school that aims to improve rural access to care.
For commercial dive fisherman Patrick Quigley, ’14, watercooler talk ranges from subzero weather to kinked air hoses to marauding sea lions.
Nearly 1 in 9 Americans over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s disease. Stanford researchers are rethinking their understanding and treatment of the disease by digging into genes, proteins, neurons, and microscopic fatballs.
Note: The Loop sometimes links to articles outside of Stanford that may require a subscription to view.
