Culture
Mathematics and science Braille textbooks are expensive and require an enormous effort to produce -- until now. A team of researchers has developed a method for easily creating textbooks in Braille, with an initial focus on math textbooks. The new process is made possible by a new authoring system which serves as a "universal translator" for textbook formats, combined with enhancements to the standard method for putting mathematics in a Web page.
A team from Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), composed of Ph.D. Student Arnaud Delmotte, Professor Yasuhiro Mukaigawa, Associate Professor Takuya Funatomi, Assistant Professor Hiroyuki Kubo, and Assistant Professor Kenichiro Tanaka, has developed a new method to embed information in a 3D printed object and retrieve it using a consumer document scanner. Information such as a serial ID can be embedded without modifying the shape of the object, and be simply extracted from a single image of a commercially available document scanner.
Blooms of toxin-producing algae exploded in both fresh and salt water ecosystems in southern Florida during the summer months of 2018, impacting wildlife and humans living in these marine environments. During harmful algal blooms, species of cyanobacteria release toxic peptides, including microcystins and nodularin into waterways.
WOODS HOLE, Mass. -- How did the monstrous giant squid - reaching school-bus size, with eyes as big as dinner plates and tentacles that can snatch prey 10 yards away -- get so scarily big?
An analysis of cyclical changes in the light spectrum emitted by Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the Sun, suggests it may be orbited by a second planet. Mario Damasso and colleagues present data suggesting that this candidate planet orbits Proxima Centauri every 5.2 years and may be a "super-Earth", with a mass higher than Earth's, though much lower than that of the Solar System ice giants Uranus and Neptune. If its existence is confirmed, this planet may provide insights into how low-mass planets form around low-mass stars.
The brain is a sort of fortress, equipped with barriers designed to keep out dangerous pathogens. But protection comes at a cost: These barriers interfere with the immune system when faced with dire threats such glioblastoma, a deadly brain tumor for which there are few effective treatments.
Yale researchers have found a novel way to circumvent the brain's natural defenses when they're counterproductive by slipping immune system rescuers through the fortresses' drainage system, they report Jan. 15 in the journal Nature.
Astronomers from UCLA's Galactic Center Orbits Initiative have discovered a new class of bizarre objects at the center of our galaxy, not far from the supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*. They published their research today in the journal Nature.
"These objects look like gas and behave like stars," said co-author Andrea Ghez, UCLA's Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine Professor of Astrophysics and director of the UCLA Galactic Center Group.
Tokyo, Japan--Earthquakes are generally thought of as abrupt, violent events that last for only moments. However, movement of the Earth's tectonic plates is often less sudden and more sustained - slow earthquakes can last for hours, months, or even longer.
Researchers led by The University of Tokyo have discovered signals due to slow slip events with large amounts of slip along the Nankai Trough subduction zone just southeast of Japan, reported in a new study published in Science Advances.
Brightly coloured male songbirds not only have to attract the female's eye, but also make sure their sperm can last the distance, according to new research.
In the study, published today in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, a team of scientists led by Dr Kate Durrant from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham, looked at how evolution shapes the plumage and the sperm cells of songbird species so that they mate successfully and pass on their genes.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In preclinical experiments, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have revealed a key missing piece of the Alzheimer's disease puzzle. That allowed proof-of-concept experiments -- using an existing drug -- that dramatically reduced Alzheimer's pathology and symptoms in two mouse models, potentially offering an immediate treatment for this devastating disease.
A stem cell transplant -- also called a bone marrow transplant -- is a common treatment for blood cancers, such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Such treatment can cure blood cancers but also can lead to life-threatening complications, including heart problems and graft-versus-host disease, in which new immune cells from the donor attack a patient's healthy tissues.
Could feces offer hope to survivors of spinal cord injuries?
It's a question University of Alberta physical therapy researcher Karim Fouad never thought he'd ask. But the expert in spinal cord injuries said the digestive tract could help explain the link between spinal injuries and changes in mental health, such as increased anxiety and depression.
A new study finds that an interactive voice application using artificial intelligence is an effective way to monitor the wellbeing of patients being treated for serious mental illness.
Researchers from UCLA followed 47 patients for up to 14 months using an application called MyCoachConnect. All of the patients were being treated by physicians for serious mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and major depressive disorder.
How do female insects manage to keep the sperm fresh for months after mating? This is a central question of the sperm biologists of the Chair of Applied Zoology headed by Prof. Dr. Klaus Reinhardt. Now the scientists presented their first promising results in the journal Scientific Reports.
All living organisms need energy for their survival, and this energy indirectly comes from the sun. Some organisms, such as plants, cyanobacteria, and algae, are capable of directly converting this light energy into chemical energy via a process called "photosynthesis". These photosynthetic organisms contain special structures to mediate photosynthesis, called "photosystems". There are two photosystems that carry out light-energy conversion reactions, each of which is composed of a number of proteins and pigments.