Culture
Chemists have found a way to turn alcohol into amino acids, the building blocks of life.
In a study published Monday in the journal Nature Chemistry, researchers explained the transformation, which involves selectively identifying and replacing molecular bonds with unprecedented precision. The finding may make it easier to create some medications by expanding the types of new amino acids that can be made to more quickly build those medicines.
The glass structure of a material is often believed to mimic its corresponding liquid. Polyamorphism between ices has been used as a guide to elucidate the properties of liquid water. But how many forms of amorphous ices are there? Do we understand how metastable high-pressure crystalline ice evolves towards the thermally stable low-density form? An international research team led by Chuanlong Lin and Wenge Yang from HPSTAR and John S.
A new study in JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute finds that breast cancer screening using digital mammography technology is not associated with improved health outcomes when compared to older film detection technology.
In 2000, the US FDA approved digital mammography technology. Studies suggested the new technology was potentially more specific in its findings. Proponents of the technology believed it would reduce the number of callbacks for positive findings, find more disease, and lead to fewer cancers diagnosed in between screenings (interval cancers).
Many people can recall shocking news images of Japan sustaining earthquake damage. Between 1996 and September of 2018, there were 155 earthquakes in Japan that resulted in human injuries. In 20 of these earthquakes, people have gone missing or were killed. During the Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake in 1995, 6,434 people were killed and 3 have gone missing. In 99 of the 155 earthquakes, damage to houses, school buildings, windows, water and sewage pipes, and landslides were recorded. Tsunami's occurred as a result of an earthquake in 18 of the 155 earthquakes.
New Rochelle, NY, June 24, 2020--Bacteriophage can reduce bacterial growth in the lungs, limiting fluid build-up. This could decrease the mortality of patients affected by COVID-19, according to the peer-reviewed journal PHAGE: Therapy, Applications, and Research. Click here to read the article.
Levitation has long been a staple of magic tricks and movies. But in the lab, it's no trick. Scientists can levitate droplets of liquid, though mixing them and observing the reactions has been challenging. The pay-off, however, could be big as it would allow researchers to conduct contact-free experiments without containers or handling that might affect the outcome. Now, a team reporting in ACS' Analytical Chemistry has developed a method to do just that.
Bristol innovation challenges regular touchscreens with new spray-on technique
A team at Bristol has challenged the idea that touchscreens are limited to 2D and rectangular shapes by developing an interactive display that can be sprayed in any shape.
Inspired by the way an artist creates graffiti on a wall and using a novel combination of sprayable electronics and 3D printing, the technique, called ProtoSpray, allows the creation of displays on surfaces that go beyond the usual rectangular and 2D shapes.
A summer internship in Bilbao, Spain, has led to a paper in the journal Physical Review Letters for Jack Mayo, a Master's student at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He has helped to create a universal model that can predict the number distribution of topological defects in non-equilibrium systems. The results can be applied to quantum computing and to studies into the origin of structure in the early Universe.
A new study of childhood epilepsy has identified the world's first environmental risk factor for the disease - maternal smoking in pregnancy, and discovered a new genetic association with the condition, pointing to potential new treatments for the disease.
The research was led by an international team of clinicians and scientists including Professor Matt Brown, Professor of Medicine at King's College London and Director of the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas'.
Invasive fire ants common in the Gulf Coast and Texas likely are limiting a tick-acquired meat allergy in these areas, scientists report.
The ants are moving northward and could reduce the prevalence of the red meat allergy in some Southern states. However, fire ant bites are also a cause of severe allergic reactions.
The new UVA research maps the extent of the red meat allergy in the United States.
The findings further implicate the lone star tick as the cause of the meat allergy and hint that the tick may be increasing in some Northern states.
As technology shrinks, the need to characterize the properties of very small materials?measured in nanometers (1 nanometer = 1 billionth of a meter)?has become increasingly important. Nanomaterials that measure from 1 and 20 nanometers show promise for use in next-generation electronic devices, solar cells, laser technology, and chemical and biosensors, to name a few. For scale, the width of a human hair is 75,000 nanometers.
PULLMAN, Wash. - As the SARS-CoV-2 puts new focus on zoonotic pathogens, a Washington State University researcher has developed a method to use environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect disease in the vast international trade of aquatic animals.
The problem with monitoring the pet trade is one of magnitude. In the Unites States alone, more than 225 million live animals are imported every year, the majority destined for the aquatic or pet industries. Creating a "clean trade" by detecting infections in these populations requires huge sample sizes, a labor-intensive and costly process.
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands have identified mutations in a gene called CNOT1 that affect brain development and impair memory and learning. The study is the first to link neurodevelopmental delays with CNOT1, suggesting that drugs that help restore the gene's function may have therapeutic benefit.
The vast majority of Irish adults – 82% – are willing to download a contact tracing app to their smartphone to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research carried out by a team from Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, University of Limerick (UL) and National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway). However, respondents also expressed several privacy concerns, including that the Government, tech firms or hackers might use the information gathered for other purposes after the pandemic.
A new study, investigating factors associated with verbal fluency among a large sample of anglophone Canadians aged 45-85, found that individuals who consumed more vegetables and fruits and more nuts and pulses (such as lentils and beans) scored higher on tests of verbal fluency.