LOS ANGELES - Despite continuing reports that methamphetamine abuse during pregnancy can lead to behavioral and emotional problems in children, pregnant women continue to abuse the illicit drug. Nearly one-fourth of pregnant women seeking treatment at federal facilities were methamphetamine users.
Tech
A lithium-ion battery that self heats if the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit has multiple applications, but may have the most impact on relieving winter "range anxiety" for electric vehicle owners, according to a team of researchers from Penn State and EC Power, State College.
Lithium-air batteries hold the promise of storing electricity at up to five times the energy density of today's familiar lithium-ion batteries, but they have inherent shortcomings. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have helped prove that a new prototype is powered by a surprising chemical reaction that may solve the new battery's biggest drawback.
The findings are reported in the Jan. 11, 2016 issue of Nature.
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Two MIT researchers have developed a thin-film material whose phase and electrical properties can be switched between metallic and semiconducting simply by applying a small voltage. The material then stays in its new configuration until switched back by another voltage. The discovery could pave the way for a new kind of "nonvolatile" computer memory chip that retains information when the power is switched off, and for energy conversion and catalytic applications.
Contrary to initial reports, the drug tested on paid volunteers in a French study, which resulted in one death and five hospitalizations, did not contain cannabis or cannabinoids. The drug, an FAAH inhibitor manufactured by the Portuguese company Bial, was instead designed to act upon the human endocannabinoid system as a potential painkiller and treatment for anxiety. Beyond that, very little information is publicly known and as such, no conclusions can be drawn about the safety or efficacy related to future cannabis and cannabinoid research.
Saffron from Spain is one of the world's most superior varieties, but the majority of this product which is labelled and exported as such originates in other countries. Scientists from the Czech Republic and Spain confirmed this false labelling after analysing 44 commercial products. By using a new technique based on each type of saffron's unique chemical 'fingerprint', the scientists have proved that over 50% of the samples were fraudulent.
AURORA, Colo. (Jan. 20, 2016) - Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have shown a direct link between indoor tanning and substance abuse among Colorado high school students.
"A growing national body of evidence links indoor tanning with other risky health-related behavior among adolescents," said study author Robert Dellavalle, MD, associate professor of dermatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Scientists at ETH Zurich have developed a new method of 3D microprinting. This can be used to manufacture even tiny, partly overhanging structures easily and in a single step. One day, this could pave the way for the manufacture of complex watch components or microtools for keyhole surgery, for example.
Quantum computing will change lives, society and the economy and a working system is expected to be developed by 2020 according to a leading figure in the world of quantum computing, who will talk tomorrow Jan. 21, 2016 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have proven that frying in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) is the cooking method that increases the phenolic fraction present in raw vegetables used in Mediterranean diet (potato, pumpkin, tomato and eggplant) the most. This means an improvement to this foods in the cooking process.
CAMBRIDGE, Ma. - Jan. 20, 2016 - During a 2014 talk on his exploration of deep-sea coral reefs, Baruch College marine biologist David Gruber showed a video of clunky robotic hands collecting fragile specimens of coral and sponges from the ocean floor. Harvard engineer and roboticist Robert J. Wood was in the audience -- the two scientists were being recognized as Emerging Explorers by the National Geographic Society -- and a lightbulb went off.
A one-of-a-kind instrument built at CSU lets scientists map cellular composition in three dimensions at the nanoscale, allowing researchers to watch how cells respond to new medications at the most minute level ever observed.
The new mass-spectral imaging system is the first of its kind in the world and its applications are just beginning to surface, said Carmen Menoni, a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Heartbeats can now be measured without placing sensors on the body, thanks to a new technology developed in Japan. Researchers at the Kyoto University Center of Innovation, together with Panasonic Corp, have come up with a way to measure heartbeats remotely, in real time, and under controlled conditions with as much accuracy as electrocardiographs.
The researchers say this will allow for the development of "casual sensing" -- taking measurements as people go about their daily activities, for instance, when they are going to bed or getting ready to start the day.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have created nanoribbons of an emerging class of materials called topological insulators and used a magnetic field to control their semiconductor properties, a step toward harnessing the technology to study exotic physics and building new spintronic devices or quantum computers.
The falling price of gasoline at the pumps may warm the hearts of consumers but it chills the souls of scientists who recognize that humankind must curtail the burning of fossil fuels to reduce the threat of climate change. Biofuels can help mitigate climate change and provide us with a sustainable source of transportation energy if yields and production costs are economically competitive. A major step towards achieving this goal has been achieved by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI).