Tech

Many overseas nurses have negative experiences of living and working in the UK, particularly when it comes to feeling personally valued and professionally respected, according to the October issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Researchers from the University of Northampton also found that discrimination and racism still exist in the National Health Service and that the reality of first-world UK nursing is often very different to what overseas nurses expect.

Scientists at the University of Leeds have perfected a new technique that allows them to make molecular nanowires out of thin strips of ring-shaped molecules known as discotic liquid crystals (DLCs).

The findings could be an important step in the development of next generation electronic devices, such as light-harvesting cells and low-cost biosensors that could be used to test water quality in developing countries.

Des Moines, Iowa USA: World renowned scientists speaking at the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue have called for a radical transformation in the agriculture sector to cope with climate change, food security and to transition towards sustainability.

PORTLAND, Ore — According to new research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University, yoga exercises may have the power to combat fibromyalgia — a medical disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain. The research is being published in the November 10 online edition of the journal Pain and will appear online Thursday, Oct. 14.

Oil boom possible but time is running out

Oil recovery using carbon dioxide could lead to a North Sea oil bonanza worth £150 billion ($ 240 billion) – but only if the current infrastructure is enhanced now, according to a new study published today by a world-leading energy expert.

A team of Rice University and Lockheed Martin scientists has discovered a way to use simple silicon to radically increase the capacity of lithium-ion batteries.

Sibani Lisa Biswal, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, revealed how she, colleague Michael Wong, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and of chemistry, and Steven Sinsabaugh, a Lockheed Martin Fellow, are enhancing the inherent ability of silicon to absorb lithium ions.

Engine friction — the force that wastes almost 1.4 million barrels of oil per day in cars and trucks in the United States alone — could become less of a problem for fuel-conscious consumers thanks to promising new oils and other materials that scientists are developing. That's the topic of the cover story in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine.

On the eve of the 2010-11 influenza flu season, scientists and engineers have identified the environmental conditions and surfaces that could enable a highly pathogenic (H5N1) bird flu virus to survive for prolonged periods of time — at least two weeks and up to two months. Among them: The virus appears to thrive at cooler temperatures and low humidity. The study, which could lead to new strategies for preventing the flu virus from spreading, appears in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

(Boston) - Investigators from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have reported that the use of a web-based questionnaire can be a cost-effective tool for obtaining survey response.

The study results, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, were based on data from the Black Women's Health Study (BWHS), a large prospective cohort study of 59,000 African American women from across the U.S. conducted by investigators at the Slone Epidemiology Center since 1995.

Rice University research that capitalizes on the wide-ranging capabilities of graphene could lead to circuit applications that are far more compact and versatile than what is now feasible with silicon-based technologies.

Triple-mode, single-transistor amplifiers based on graphene -- the one-atom-thick form of carbon that recently won its discoverers a Nobel Prize -- could become key components in future electronic circuits. The discovery by Rice researchers was reported this week in the online journal ACS Nano.

HOBOKEN, N.J. (Sept. 13, 2010) – More than 50 million Americans will experience some degree of tinnitus in their lifetime, according to the American Tinnitus Association. Tinnitus is a hearing condition that causes the constant misperception of sound, including hissing, ringing and rushing noises. A study recently published in Panminerva Medica reveals that Pycnogenol® (pic-noj-en-all), an antioxidant plant extract derived from the bark of the French maritime pine tree, is effective in relieving tinnitus symptoms by improving blood flow in the inner ear.

Can Hungary's red sludge be made less toxic with carbon?

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The red, metal-laden sludge that escaped a containment pond in Hungary last week could be made less toxic with the help of carbon sequestration, says an Indiana University Bloomington geologist who has a patent pending on the technique.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia are deploying an underwater robot to survey ice-covered ocean in Antarctica from October 17 through November 12.

Scientists predict that the sea ice area around Antarctica will be reduced by more than 33 per cent by 2100, accelerating the collapse of ice shelves. Up to hundreds of metres thick, ice shelves are floating platforms of ice that cover almost half of Antarctica's coastline.