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Ambitious experiments cast light on far reaches of periodic table

A study of newly made chemical compounds is giving scientists a fresh understanding of an elusive element.

Researchers made compounds of neptunium -- which is difficult to work with owing to its high radioactivity -- and examined them to learn more about its properties and behaviour.

These challenging experiments, carried out in a specialised lab, were designed to give insight into the fundamental structure and bonding properties of elements in parts of the periodic table that have not been studied in detail.

New study captures ultrafast motion of proteins

A new study by an international team of researchers, affiliated with Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has announced that they have succeeded for the first time in observing the structural changes in carbonic anhydrase.

The breakthrough comes from a research, conducted by Professor Chae Un Kim (School of Natural Science) of UNIST in collaboration with researchers from Soongsil University, Cornell University, and University of Florida.

Flawed data behind regulation of high-risk women's health devices

CHICAGO --- Some high-risk medical devices used in obstetrics and gynecology were approved by the FDA based on flawed data, according to a recent study from Northwestern Medicine.

The investigators assessed the regulation of women's health devices approved by the FDA in the last 15 years. The authors suggest that their results, published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, indicate that the agency's approvals should be based on clinical studies more rigorous than currently required, both before and after the devices go to market.

Chemists settle longstanding debate on how methane is made biologically

RICHLAND, Wash. - Like the poet, microbes that make methane are taking chemists on a road less traveled: Of two competing ideas for how microbes make the main component of natural gas, the winning chemical reaction involves a molecule less favored by previous research, something called a methyl radical.

Reported today in the journal Science, the work is important for understanding not only how methane is made, but also how to make things from it.

Physicists create first metamaterial with rewritable magnetic ordering

University of Notre Dame physicists and their collaborators have produced the first rewriteable artificial magnetic charge ice. The research, described in a paper published in Science today, shows strong potential for technological applications from information encoding, reprogrammable magnonics, and also to spintronics.

Researchers demonstrate size quantization of Dirac fermions in graphene

Quantum mechanics is the field of physics governing the behavior of things on atomic scales, where things work very differently from our everyday world.

Graphene: A quantum of current

In 2010 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded for the discovery of the exceptional material graphene, which consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice. But graphene research did not stop there. New interesting properties of this material are still being found. An international team of researchers has now explained the peculiar behaviour of electrons moving through narrow constrictions in a graphene layer. The results have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

The Electron is a Wave

Long term effects of cardiac regenerative therapies in a left ventricle

Heart failure (HF) continues to pose a significant burden on our society. One of the most common heart diseases is myocardial infarction (MI), which results in a permanent loss of contractile function in the infarcted region. Cell-based cardiac regenerative therapies have garnered a considerable interest lately as a way to restore the contractile function in the infarct region. Before these treatments can be optimally applied to treat MI, however, it is necessary to develop a better understanding on the mechanisms of cardiac regenerative therapies.

Scientists explain how the giant magnetoelectric effect occurs in bismuth ferrite

A team of scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), the National Research University of Electronic Technology (MIET), and the Prokhorov General Physics Institute have proposed a theoretical model that explains the unexpectedly high values of the linear magnetoelectric effect in BiFeO3 (bismuth ferrite) that have been observed in a number of experiments. The team also suggested a way of further enhancing the effect. The results of the study have been published in the journal Physical Review B.

The proof is in the pudding

There is an important difference between knowing something, and being able to prove something. Even in science, there are ideas that everyone shares, but no one can prove. The link between disorder and metastability in a granular material was one of such ideas, until three researchers devised an experiment to measure the relationship between the two phenomena.

A digital Rochester Cloak to fit all sizes

Using the same mathematical framework as the Rochester Cloak, researchers at the University of Rochester have been able to use flat screen displays to extend the range of angles that can be hidden from view. Their method lays out how cloaks of arbitrary shapes, that work from multiple viewpoints, may be practically realized in the near future using commercially available digital devices.

Ancient tsunami evidence on Mars reveals life potential

ITHACA, N.Y. - The geologic shape of what were once shorelines through Mars' northern plains convinces scientists that two large meteorites - hitting the planet millions of years apart - triggered a pair of mega-tsunamis. These gigantic waves forever scarred the Martian landscape and yielded evidence of cold, salty oceans conducive to sustaining life.

Will more snow over Antarctica offset rising seas? Don't count on it

Many factors related to warming will conspire to raise the planet's oceans over coming decades -- thermal expansion of the world's oceans, melting of snow and ice worldwide, and the collapse of massive ice sheets.

But there are a few potential brakes. One was supposed to be heavier snowfall over the vast continent of Antarctica. Warmer air will hold more moisture and thus generate more snow to fall inland and slightly rebuild the glacier, according to climate model projections.

Photon collisions: Photonic billiards might be the newest game!

When one snooker ball hits another, both spring away from each other in an elastic manner. In the case of two photons a similar process - the elastic collision - has never been observed. Physicists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences have shown, however, that such a process does not only occur, but even could soon be registered in heavy ion collisions at the LHC accelerator.

Atmospheric aerosols can significantly cool down climate

It is possible to significantly slow down and even temporarily stop the progression of global warming by increasing the atmospheric aerosol concentration, shows a new study from the University of Eastern Finland. However, climate engineering does not remove the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.