Tech

The saint's legend speaks of a king who died a dramatic death in battle outside the church in Uppsala, Sweden, where he had just celebrated mass. But what can modern science tell us about his remains? A joint research project headed by Uppsala University now reveals more of the health condition of Saint Erik, what he looked like, where he lived and what the circumstances of his death were.

Ceramic capacitors are used in a wide variety of electronics, ranging from computers and mobile phones to telecommunications transmitter stations and high voltage laser power supplies. Capacitors act, in a way, like batteries. They are "dielectric" - they act as an electronic insulator in which an electric field can be sustained with minimum loss of power. Their dielectric properties allow them to store electricity and then release it. One of the most widely used ceramics in capacitors is lead zirconate titanate, but it is hazardous to the health and the environment once it's disposed.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass - Road vehicles are a key part of the climate change challenge, representing both an important source of petroleum demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Changes to our transportation system--how much we travel, the vehicles we use, and the fuels that power them--offer the potential for substantial reductions in GHG emissions, and are necessary to mitigate climate change. Likewise, changes in policy, driving behavior, and the development of alternative fuels and energy sources are required to meet this challenge.

Regulation of commercial speech about pharmaceuticals should require informative content based on scientific evidence, not just formalistic truth.

Regulation of commercial speech about pharmaceuticals should be informed by the state of scientific evidence rather than mere formalistic truth, according to a Policy Forum article authored by Spencer Hey and Aaron Kesselheim from Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, in this week's PLOS Medicine.

U.S. government nanotechnology researchers have demonstrated a new window to view what are now mostly clandestine operations occurring in soggy, inhospitable realms of the nanoworld--technologically and medically important processes that occur at boundaries between liquids and solids, such as in batteries or along cell membranes.

WASHINGTON D.C., March 15, 2016 - A team of researchers at Aix Marseille Université in Marseille, France led by Dr. Frédéric Leroy developed a technique that allows them to follow physical processes occurring at surfaces of materials at the atomic level in situ and in real time. This new process allowed the research team to study the kinetics of decomposition of a thin layer of silicon dioxide deposited onto silicon during a thermal treatment, a critical component in micro-electronics. The approach is based on the principles of electron microscopy.

The researchers were alerted to the natural phenomenon in Australia by the photo taken by an Australian colleague, who sent them an aerial shot of the region surrounding the town of Newman. The photo showed plant patterns that were very similar to the fairy circles which had only ever been found in southern Africa.