Tech

The optimum design of bicycle parameters has been explored by many scholars and institutes since bicycles were first invented. Professor Xin-Jun Liu and his group at Tsinghua University established a new way to design bicycle parameters according to the dimensions of the rider's body. They introduced a new perspective of the rider–bicycle system by considering the complete system as a mechanism. The group then established a new method for the optimum design of bicycle parameters from a completely theoretical basis, which may result in a new field of optimum design of bicycle parameters.

Every day, thousands of cargo containers from around the world pass through our nation's sea ports carrying items we need, and possibly some that are not so welcome: drugs, explosives, chemical, biological, or radiological weapons – even human cargo.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A new power scheme for cardiac pacemakers turns to an unlikely source: vibrations from heartbeats themselves.

Scientists working as part of the Metrology for Energy Harvesting Project have developed a new model to deliver the maximum power output for piezoelectric energy harvesters.

Piezoelectric materials convert electrical energy into a strain (or vice-versa). The best known use of piezoelectricity is for medical ultrasound.

Anyone who goes to their doctor for a blood test generally has to wait a few days for the results. But this time of uncertainty can make patients anxious – especially in critical cases, such as a possible HIV infection. The fact that it takes so long for laboratories to analyze samples is in no small part due to all the cumbersome paperwork: Each sample must be accompanied by meticulous records, so lab technicians are obliged to write a lengthy report including the patient's details, the results of the analysis and the testing methods employed.

Philadelphia, PA -- Pass the peas please! How often do we hear our children say this? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey of adolescents, only 21% of our children eat the recommended 5 or more fruits and vegetables per day. So not very many children are asking their parents to "pass the peas," and parents are resorting to other methods to get their children to eat their vegetables.

Grave consequences can result from bad decisions made by people in leadership positions. Case in point: the 2009 Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster. British Petroleum (BP) executives had downplayed potential risks associated with their oil well, claiming that it was virtually impossible that a major accident would ever occur.

That same oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers and causing a massive oil spill that's costing BP an estimated $100 billion.

At some point this year, after NASA's rover Curiosity has landed on Mars, a laser will fire a beam of infrared light at a rock or soil sample. This will "ablate" or vaporize a microgram-sized piece of the target, generating a plume of ionized gas or plasma, which will be analyzed by spectrometers to identify the target's constituent elements. Future Mars rovers, however, will be able to do even more. Researchers with the U.S.

NEW YORK, March 1, 2012 – Probing the largely unexplored question of what characteristics make a leader among schooling fish, researchers have discovered that by mimicking nature, a robotic fish can transform into a leader of live ones.

WASHINGTON, March 1—As IP traffic continues to increase and the router interface rate extends beyond 100 gigabits-per-second (Gb/s), future optical networks—ones that would achieve unprecedented speeds of 1 terabit-per-second (Tb/s)—will be required to support the rapid growth of data services with different capacities and patterns on the same optical platform.

WASHINGTON, March 1—In yet another astounding application of the "wonder material" graphene, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley discovered that it makes an excellent active media for optical modulators. Graphene-based modulators are expected to significantly enhance ultrafast optical communication and computing. team will report on their findings at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC) taking place next week in Los Angeles.

Spanish consumers are defenceless against deceptive advertising broadcasted on the radio in areas that could affect their health, according to a study carried out by two lecturers at the Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid. The project reports that this infringement of law takes place specifically in health-related advertisements.

The researchers show that the current methods oversimplify the measure by not accounting for water quality; the key measure of safety. In four of the five developing countries studied, the reduction in reported progress would be substantial. It is likely that MDG safe-water progress in other developing countries is similarly overstated.

WASHINGTON -- Almost everyone has seen the Periodic Table of the Elements, the chart gracing walls of science classrooms that shows relationships between the chemical elements that make up everything on Earth — and beyond. The American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society, now is offering viewers of its award-winning Bytesize Science series a tour of what may stake a claim to being the world's first and only Periodic Table table.

A novel system for processing embryos during IVF treatment has been shown to significantly improve the chances of pregnancy – by more than a quarter.

Pioneered by a Newcastle team of fertility experts at the University and within the NHS, the innovative design of interlinked incubators provides a totally enclosed and controlled environment within which every step of the IVF process can be performed.