COLLEGE STATION -- An enzyme responsible for making hydrocarbons has been discovered by Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists studying a common green microalga called Botryococcus braunii.
The study, published in the current issue of the journal Nature Communications, could enable scientists to use the enzyme in a plant to make large amounts of fuel-grade oil, according to Dr. Tim Devarenne, AgriLife Research biochemist in College Station and lead scientist on the team.
EPFL and UNIGE scientists have developed a microchip using graphene that could help wireless telecommunications share data at a rate that is ten times faster than currently possible. The results are published today in Nature Communications.
"Our graphene based microchip is an essential building block for faster wireless telecommunications in frequency bands that current mobile devices cannot access," says EPFL scientist Michele Tamagnone.
Graphene acts like polarized sunglasses
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (April 6, 2016) -- A pioneering technique significantly reduces phantom limb pain--chronic pain emanating from the site of amputated limbs--according to findings presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting.
The study indicates that interventional radiologists applying cryoablation therapy, a minimally invasive targeted treatment using cold blasts, show promise in improving the quality of life for patients suffering phantom limb pain.
Public health interventions that require individuals to invest fewer individual personal and psychological resources are likely to be most effective and equitable; such "low-agency" approaches should therefore be central to public health action on diet and obesity, according to Jean Adams and colleagues from the Centre for Diet and Activity Research and MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, UK.
Scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have been able to pinpoint for the first time what happens during a key manufacturing process of silicon solar cells.
A finely tuned carbon nanotube thin film has the potential to act as a thermoelectric power generator that captures and uses waste heat, according to researchers at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
BOSTON (April 5, 2016)-- Children are far from meeting national guidelines for physical activity, and girls are at greatest risk of falling short of recommendations according to a study measuring the physical activity of 453 schoolchildren in Massachusetts during a one-week period. Led by researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, the study examined children's activity patterns during school-time and out-of-school, compared to national recommendations.
IMPERIAL VALLEY, CA - As vegetable growers face a lack of skilled farm labor and higher production costs, they are searching for effective, lower-cost mechanical means of getting their products to market. In a study in the February 2016 issue of HortTechnology, researchers looked at the feasibility of using automated thinners in romaine lettuce production. Their results showed that automated thinning increased plant size and uniformity, and "makes it possible for growers to increase plant population and crop yield by optimizing in-row spacing."
Many phenomena in physics, though well-known, are not necessarily widely understood. That's the case with thermoelectricity, which harnesses waste heat by coupling heat flux and electric current. However, understanding such phenomena is important in order to leave the door open for discovering novel manifestations of them. Thus, even today physicists working in the area of thermoelectricity continue to ask fundamental questions about the underlying physical process.
UPTON, NY--Using a highly controlled deposition technique, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have synthesized ultrathin films containing multiple samples of a copper-oxide compound to study the compound's electronic behavior at near absolute zero, or minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit.
Owing to their unbeatable electro-optical properties and compatibility with existing silicon technology, silicon nanosheets (SiNSs) are one of most exciting recent discoveries. They have been the most promising candidate for use in various applications, such as in the process of manufacturing semiconductors and producing hydrogen.
Ethnicity, socioeconomic status and place of residence in the UK all influence the risk of breaking a bone, a new Southampton study has shown.
Researchers at the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, undertook an analysis of the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink database and calculated the risk of an individual experiencing a fracture. They also examined whether this risk varied according to age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and place of residence in the UK.
Researchers have developed a new method to overcome one of the main issues in implementing a quantum cryptography system, raising the prospect of a useable 'unbreakable' method for sending sensitive information hidden inside particles of light.
Almost all electronic devices operate by using an electron charge controlled by electrical means. In addition to a charge, an electron has a spin as a magnetic property. A groundbreaking concept for information processing based on electron spins is proposed using electron spins in semiconductors. Quantum computing enables us to exceed the speed of conventional computing and a spin transistor reduces energy consumption.
Researchers from the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) have, for the first time, converted the colour and bandwidth of ultrafast single photons using a room-temperature quantum memory in diamond.