Tech
In a study published in the journal Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorder, researchers reported on their effort to improve and validate tools used to assess the severity of a condition called delirium, an acute confusional state often experienced by older hospitalized patients. The aim was to more accurately define methods for detecting and measuring delirium symptom severity, which could in turn lead to improved prevention and treatment for patients at risk.
The goal of "Femtochemistry" is to film and control chemical reactions with short flashes of light. Using consecutive laser pulses, atomic bonds can be excited precisely and broken as desired. So far, this has been demonstrated for selected molecules. Researchers at the University of Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry have now succeeded in transferring this principle to a solid, controlling its crystal structure on the surface. The results have been published in the journal Nature.
It's intuitive and scientifically shown that wearing a face covering can help reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. But not all masks are created equal, according to new University of Arizona-led research.
The simulation of woven and knitted fabrics is an ongoing problem in computer graphics. Simulating the way a fabric drapes or moves while being worn, while accurately modeling low-level effects such as the stiffness and stretch of individual yarns, is a complicated challenge that requires sophisticated computational modeling.
Scientists from the University of Liverpool have revealed new insight into how cyanobacteria construct the organelles that are essential for their ability to photosynthesise. The research, which carried out in collaboration with the University of Science and Technology of China, has been published in PNAS.
Cyanobacteria are an ancient group of photosynthetic microbes that occur in the ocean and most inland waters. They have evolved a protein organelle, called the carboxysome, to convert environmental carbon dioxide into sugar in an efficient way.
Spiders produce amazingly strong and lightweight threads called draglines that are made from silk proteins. Although they can be used to manufacture a number of useful materials, getting enough of the protein is difficult because only a small amount can be produced by each tiny spider. In a new study published in Communications Biology, a research team led by Keiji Numata at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) reported that they succeeded in producing the spider silk using photosynthetic bacteria.
EVANSTON, Ill.-- Packing for outer space? Here's one thing you won't want to forget.
Northwestern University researchers have synthesized a new form of melanin enriched with selenium. Called selenomelanin, this new biomaterial shows extraordinary promise as a shield for human tissue against harmful radiation.
Science is collaborative by nature, since scientific knowledge only advances, step by step, through combined efforts and findings. Nevertheless, there is often a lack of communication regarding the more technical and everyday advances in laboratory work, and as a result research progresses less quickly. In recent years, largely thanks to the development of the digital ecosystem, these communication barriers are being overcome, which results in improved transparency and knowledge exchange between scientific teams.
Four-eyed fishes of the genus Anableps and their relatives are a fish family from the Neotropics with a number of bizarre traits that have fascinated naturalists for centuries. These include: (i) a "split" eye that allows them to see both above and under the water surface at the same time; (ii) being live-bearers, meaning that they give birth to fully developed offspring just like mammals; and (iii) conspicuously asymmetric genitalia among the males of all species and among the females of some species.
Asymmetric and polymorphic
Lead halide perovskites can be turned into optoelectronic devices through low-cost solution depositions, but these approaches often leave numerous charge-trapping defects in the perovskite. Continuously improving the performance of these optoelectronic devices is needed to overcome the bottleneck problem. The defect (including surface defects and volume defects) density in perovskites is a key parameter that limits the performance of these materials.
BEER-SHEVA, Israel...July 8, 2020 - Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have determined how to pinpoint the location of a drone operator who may be operating maliciously or harmfully near airports or protected airspace by analyzing the flight path of the drone.
Drones (small commercial unmanned aerial systems) pose significant security risks due to their agility, accessibility and low cost. As a result, there is a growing need to develop methods for detection, localization and mitigation of malicious and other harmful aircraft operation.
Guangzhou, July 3, 2020: New journal BIO Integration (BIOI) has been launched with the publication of volume 1, issue 1. BIOI is a peer-reviewed, open access, international journal, which is dedicated to spreading multidisciplinary views driving the advancement of modern medicine.
How can some of world’s biggest problems – climate change, food security and land degradation – be tackled simultaneously?
Some lesser-known options, such as integrated water management and increasing the organic content of soil, have fewer trade-offs than many well-known options, such as planting trees, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Global Change Biology.
HOUSTON -- (July 7, 2020) -- Climate change will intensify winds that steer hurricanes north over Texas in the final 25 years of this century, increasing the odds for fast-moving storms like 2008's Ike compared with slow-movers like 2017's Harvey, according to new research.
The study published online July 3 in Nature Communications examined regional atmospheric wind patterns that are likely to exist over Texas from 2075-2100 as Earth's climate changes due to increased greenhouse emissions.
Chronic and recurrent bacterial diseases are treatment-resistant due to the ability of the pathogens to establish biofilms, which act as fortresses built of extracellular DNA and proteins to protect populations of the bacteria.
For more than 11 years, researchers Lauren Bakaletz, PhD, and Steve Goodman, PhD, have been working to understand and dismantle biofilms.