|  Grasshopper mice are numb to the pain of the bark scorpion sting  | The painful, potentially deadly stings of bark scorpions are nothing more than a slight nuisance to grasshopper mice, which voraciously kill and consume their prey with ease. When stung, the mice briefly lick their paws and move in again for the kill. | Read More » Persuading light to mix it up with matter  | Scientists have documented a never-before-seen coupling of photons with electrons on the surface of an exotic crystal. | Read More » Polymer scientists jam nanoparticles, trapping liquids in useful shapes  | Sharp observation by a doctoral student in a polymer science and engineering laboratory recently led her to discover how to kinetically trap and control one liquid within another, locking and separating them in a stable system over long periods, with the ability to tailor and manipulate the shapes and flow characteristics of each. The advance holds promise for a wide range of different applications including in drug delivery, biosensing, fluidics, photovoltaics, encapsulation and bicontinuous media for energy applications and separations media. | Read More » Increasing toxicity of algal blooms tied to nutrient enrichment and climate change  | Nutrient enrichment and climate change are posing yet another concern of growing importance: an apparent increase in the toxicity of some algal blooms in freshwater lakes and estuaries around the world, which threatens aquatic organisms, ecosystem health and human drinking water safety. | Read More » Scientists solve mystery of odd patterns of oxygen in solar system's earliest rocks  | By re-creating conditions in the solar nebula, the swirl of gas that coalesced to form our star, the planets and the remnant rocky debris that circles the Sun as asteroids, the researchers demonstrated that a simple chemical reaction, governed by known physical principles, can generate silicate dust with oxygen anomalies that match those found in the oldest rocks in the solar system. | Read More » Yeast, human stem cells drive discovery of new Parkinson's disease drug targets  | Using a discovery platform whose components range from yeast cells to human stem cells, scientists have identified a novel Parkinson's disease drug target and a compound capable of repairing neurons derived from Parkinson's patients. | Read More » Washing your hands makes you optimistic  | Washing our hands influences how we think, judge and decide. This is what researchers confirmed through experiments when examining how physical cleansing affects us after failure. | Read More » Genetic mutation provides clues to battling childhood obesity  | A new paper identifies a possible genetic root to the insatiable appetite and slow metabolism of some obese patients. The study, which sequenced 2,101 individuals with severe early-onset obesity, found that patients harboring mutations in a particular gene, KSR2, had an increased appetite and a slower metabolism, suggesting that drugs developed to modulate the activity of the protein encoded by the KSR2 gene could provide new treatment options for obesity and Type 2 diabetes. | Read More » Learning how to convert heat directly into power: A thermoelectric materials emulator  | Converting heat directly into power could be a major source of renewable energy. A novel approach to study this so called thermoelectricity may help to design new materials that are highly efficient. In an experiment with cold atoms trapped by lasers an international group of physicists precisely simulates the behavior of thermoelectric materials. | Read More » Researchers apply brainpower to understanding neural stem cell differentiation  | How do humans and other mammals get so brainy? In a new paper, researchers explain how neural stem and progenitor cells differentiate into neurons and related cells called glia. Neural stem and progenitor cells offer tremendous promise as a future treatment for neurodegenerative disorders, and understanding their differentiation is the first step towards harnessing this therapeutic potential. | Read More » Aboriginal hunting practice increases animal populations  | In Australia's Western Desert, Aboriginal hunters use a unique method that actually increases populations of the animals they hunt, according to a new study. The hunting method -- using fire to clear patches of land to improve the search for game -- also creates a mosaic of regrowth that enhances habitat. | Read More » Gold nanoparticles give an edge in recycling carbon dioxide  | It's a 21st-century alchemist's dream: turning Earth's superabundance of carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas -- into fuel or useful industrial chemicals. Researchers have shown gold nanoparticles can be tuned to selectively reduce CO2 into CO, an active carbon molecule that can be used to make alternative fuels and commodity chemicals. The key is maximizing the particles' long edges, which are the active sites for the reaction. | Read More » Reading this in a meeting? Women twice as likely as men to be offended by smartphone use  | In an increasingly uncivil world, a new study is the first to provide hard evidence for how attitudes about acceptable or rude mobile phone use actually break down across gender, age and region. | Read More » For fish and rice to thrive in Yolo Bypass, 'just add water'  | From a fish-eye view, the rice fields of California's Yolo Bypass are one big dehydrated food web. Just add water to grow the biggest, fattest salmon in the state. | Read More » Obesity may increase risk of Clostridium difficile infection  | Researchers have identified obesity as a possible risk factor for Clostridium difficile infection. These findings may contribute to improved clinical surveillance of those at highest risk of disease. | Read More » When scaling the quantum slopes, veer for the straight path  | Researchers have found that the "landscape" of quantum control -- a representation of quantum mechanics that allows the dynamics of atoms and molecules to be manipulated -- can be unexpectedly simple, which could allow for ready control of quantum operating devices at the nanoscale. | Read More » Making hydrogen cheaply? Unique chemistry in hydrogen catalysts revealed  | Making hydrogen easily and cheaply is a dream goal for clean, sustainable energy. Bacteria have been doing exactly that for billions of years, and now chemists are revealing how they do it, and perhaps opening ways to imitate them. | Read More » 100 percent of an image restored using a version containing between one and 10 percent of the information  | A computer engineer has developed algorithms to reduce and optimize images; using a reduced image (with between 1 percent and 10 percent of the information from the original image), they allow 100 percent of the pixels in the initial image to be restored. | Read More » Inexpensive material boosts battery capacity  | Next-generation lithium-ion batteries made with iron oxide nanoparticles could extend the driving distance of electric cars. | Read More » Charged up and ready to connect  | An innovative strategy produces positively and negatively charged polymer chains ideal for generating multifunctional coatings. | Read More » Google search serves users from 700 percent more locations than a year ago  | Google search has dramatically increased the number of sites around the world from which it serves client queries. | Read More » Using sound waves for remote bomb detection  | A remote acoustic detection system designed to identify homemade bombs can determine the difference between those that contain low-yield and high-yield explosive. | Read More » Monkey that purrs like a cat is among new species discovered in Amazon rainforest  | At least 441 new species of animals and plants have been discovered over a four year period in the vast, underexplored rainforest of the Amazon, including a monkey that purrs like a cat. | Read More » Minuscule bumps improve an anti-reflective coating  | An anti-reflective film that mimics a moth's eye is durable and highly effective, overcoming some of the main barriers to commercialization. | Read More » New low-cost, nondestructive technology cuts risk from mercury hot spots  | Hot spots of mercury pollution in aquatic sediments and soils can contaminate local food webs and threaten ecosystems, but cleaning them up can be expensive and destructive. Researchers have found a new low-cost, nonhazardous way to reduce the risk of exposure: using charcoal to trap it in the soil. | Read More » Fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats proves hardy survivor  | After taking an in-depth look at the basic biology of a fungus that is decimating bat colonies as it spreads across the US, researchers report that they can find little that might stop the organism from spreading further and persisting indefinitely in bat caves. | Read More » Scientists develop new method to help global coasts adapt to sea-level rise  | Scientists have developed a new method to help the world's coasts adapt to global sea-level rises over the next 100 years. Future sea-level rise seems inevitable, although the rates and geographical patterns of change remain uncertain. Given the large and growing populations and economic activity in coastal zones, as well as the importance of coastal ecosystems, the potential impacts of sea-level change are far-reaching. Current methods to assess the potential impact of sea-level rise have varied significantly and hindered the development of useful scenarios and in turn, suitable adaption policies and planning. A new study has combined the available data on a number of different climate and non-climate (such as uplift, subsidence and natural phenomena - earthquakes for example) mechanisms, which contribute to sea-level change, to create appropriate scenarios of sea-level rise at any location when policy-makers consider impacts and adaption. | Read More » Physicists observe the formation of a many-body system in experiment  | How large does a group of particles have to be to render moot its exact number of particles? In experiments using ultracold atoms, physicists succeeded in observing the transition to a many-body system well described by an infinite number of particles. In philosophy, this problem is known as the sorites paradox. The essential question is when a collection of elements forms a "heap." | Read More » Physicists aim to make transition to quantum world visible  | Theoretical physicists have developed a mathematical model for a type of microscopic test lab that could provide new and deeper insight into the world of quantum particles. The new test system will enable the simultaneous study of one hundred light quanta (photons) and their complex quantum mechanical relationships ("quantum entanglement") – a far greater number than was previously possible. The researchers hope to gain new insights that will be of relevance to the development of quantum computers. | Read More » Scientists' new approach improves efficiency of solar cells  | Scientists have developed a new method to increase the efficiency of solar cells. | Read More » Parents greatly underestimate how often their children are cyberbullied  | Cyberbullying has become a destructive force in many children's lives. After multiple suicides by children being cyberbullied, parents, more than ever, need to be aware of their children's online activity. A recent paper found that parents underestimate how often their children engage in risky online behavior, like cyberbullying and viewing pornography. | Read More » Can a potentially invasive plant bring a positive influence to a region?  | Could invasive species be beneficial for a region? Scientists have attempted to answer this question in Fiji by studying the influence of the invasive creeping daisy Sphagneticola trilobata on the feeding activity of a solitary bee. The study shows how contrary to expectations the invasive plant could potentially turn out to be important to crop pollination and biodiversity of the region. | Read More » King of beasts losing ground in Uganda's paradise  | Conservationists warn that Uganda's African lions -- a mainstay of the country's tourism industry and a symbol of Africa -- are on the verge of disappearing from the country's national parks. | Read More » Survey finds that online bullying has declined  | The results of a new survey were released today, exploring the pervasiveness of digital abuse among teens and young adults, how it is affecting America's youth and how they're responding to it. | Read More » No longer a man's race  | Men might be faster, but women are stronger in numbers in the nation's largest 10-kilometer road running races. | Read More » Kids' asthma medication frequently administered inaccurately, leading to poor health outcomes  | Caregivers' often administer their child's asthma medication inaccurately, which leads to poor health outcomes for those children. | Read More » Insights into genetic architecture of OCD, tourette syndrome  | An international research consortium has answered several questions about the genetic background of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette syndrome (TS), providing the first direct confirmation that both are highly heritable and also revealing major differences between the underlying genetic makeup of the disorders. | Read More » Study finds that paying people to become kidney donors could be cost-effective  | Paying living donors $10,000 could be cost-saving even if it only resulted in a 5% increase in the number of donors. | Read More » Nanoscale engineering boosts performance of quantum dot light emitting diodes  | Dramatic advances in the field of quantum dot light emitting diodes could come from recent work. Quantum dots are nano-sized semiconductor particles whose emission color can be tuned by simply changing their dimensions. | Read More » 'High-risk' organs from deceased donors safe when screened with current methods  | A study has shown that after a median of 2.4 years of follow up, 86.5% of transplants of donor kidneys considered "high-risk" for infection and disease were functioning with no evidence of infections. Such "high-risk" organs are relatively safe when screened with current methods. | Read More » Debunking myths about how cancer spreads  | Experts address some of the common misconceptions about how cancer spreads. | Read More » Immediacy of language influences credibility of online consumer reviews  | Many companies are increasingly confused and upset about how to deal with negative online consumer reviews. One way to overcome consumers' over-reliance on negative word of mouth would be to encourage satisfied customers to include language indicating that they wrote their reviews soon after product/service consumption, according research. | Read More » Kids are more likely to trust attractive adults  | Children are more likely to trust an adult with an attractive face compared to an unattractive one -- this is the finding of new research. | Read More » Exercise during pregnancy improves vascular function of offspring into adulthood  | Exercise during gestation has the potential to program vascular health in offspring into their adulthood, in particular significantly altering the vascular smooth muscle. | Read More » Breakthrough for solar cell efficiency  | Scientists have just revealed the fundamental aspect of a new approach to growing InGaN crystals for diodes, which promises to move photovoltaic solar cell technology toward record-breaking efficiencies. | Read More » Lou Gehrig's disease: From patient stem cells to potential treatment strategy  | A study is believed to be one of the first in which a specific form of Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was replicated in a dish, analyzed and "treated," suggesting a potential future therapy all in a single study. | Read More » | |
No comments:
Post a Comment