Tech

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University were able to obtain polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes using electrospinning. PTFE is known to be the most stable existent polymer. According to the scientists, it is a simple, affordable and easily scalable method, which will allow obtaining chemically stable membranes in industrial-scale production. The membranes can be used in petrochemical, aerospace, nuclear industries, carbon-free energy and medicine.

A new paper published by an East Carolina University researcher in the Department of Coastal Studies shines light on the effect human-made infrastructure and natural topography has on coastal wetlands after major storm events.

LMU biologists have shown that 'supervisor' and 'motivator' proteins are required to enable a third factor to perform its function in photosynthesis.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The most narcissistic U.S. presidents since 1897 preferred to instigate conflicts with other great power countries without seeking support from allies, a new study suggests.

Results showed that of the presidents measured, those highest in narcissism - including Lyndon B. Johnson, Teddy Roosevelt and Richard Nixon - were about six times more likely to initiate a dispute with another great power in any given year than a president with average levels of narcissism.

Researchers at the University of Chicago and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have leveraged existing advanced X-ray microscopy techniques to bridge the gap between MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and electron microscopy imaging, providing a viable pipeline for multiscale whole brain imaging within the same brain.

As social media and other online networking sites have grown in usage, so too has trolling - an internet practice in which users intentionally seek to draw others into pointless and, at times, uncivil conversations.

New research from Brigham Young University recently published in the journal of Social Media and Society sheds light on the motives and personality characteristics of internet trolls.

Cunjiang Yu, Bill D. Cook Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston, is reporting the development of a camera with a curvy, adaptable imaging sensor that could improve image quality in endoscopes, night-vision goggles, artificial compound eyes and fish-eye cameras.

The world's human population is expanding, which means even more agricultural land will be needed to provide food for this growing population. However, choosing which areas to convert is difficult and depends on agricultural and environmental priorities, which can vary widely.

A study led by Princeton University illustrates this challenge by using several different approaches to solve the same puzzle: Given a target amount of food, where should new croplands be put to minimize environmental or biodiversity impacts?

PHILADELPHA--Patients who had their wisdom teeth extracted had improved tasting abilities decades after having the surgery, a new Penn Medicine study published in the journal Chemical Senses found.

Almost all of the nitrogen that fertilizes life in the open ocean of the Gulf of Mexico is carried into the gulf from shallower coastal areas, researchers from Florida State University found.

The work, published in Nature Communications, is crucial to understanding the food web of that ecosystem, which is a spawning ground for several commercially valuable species of fish, including the Atlantic bluefin tuna, which was a focus of the research.

Washington, DC--Location, location, location--when it comes to the placement of wind turbines, the old real estate adage applies, according to new research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Carnegie's Enrico Antonini and Ken Caldeira.

The ability to precisely control the various properties of laser light is critical to much of the technology that we use today, from commercial virtual reality (VR) headsets to microscopic imaging for biomedical research. Many of today's laser systems rely on separate, rotating components to control the wavelength, shape and power of a laser beam, making these devices bulky and difficult to maintain.

Deployable structures -- objects that transition from a compact state to an expanded one -- are used everywhere from backyards to Mars. But as anyone who has ever struggled to open an uncooperative folding chair knows, transforming two-dimensional forms into three-dimensional structures is sometimes a challenge.

Boulder, Colo., USA: Subsurface carbon sequestration—storing carbon in
rocks deep underground—offers a partial solution for removing carbon from
the atmosphere. Used alongside emissions reductions, geologic carbon
sequestration could help mitigate anthropogenic climate change. But like
other underground operations, it comes with risks—including earthquakes.

The devastating 2012 - 2016 drought in California triggered widespread tree cover loss and die-offs of a variety of species in the region. A new study in the open access journal Frontiers in Climate is the first to show that California's iconic blue oak (Quercus douglasii) woodlands have also decreased by more than 1,200 km2.