Tech
Microplastic fiber pollution in the ocean impacts larval lobsters at each stage of their development, according to new research. A study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin reports that the fibers affect the animals' feeding and respiration, and they could even prevent some larvae from reaching adulthood.
A common inherited genetic variant is a frequent cause of deafness in adults, meaning that many thousands of people are potentially at risk, reveals research published online in the Journal of Medical Genetics.
Deafness in adults is known to be inherited. But, unlike childhood deafness, the genetic causes largely remain a mystery, say the researchers, who suggest that their discovery makes it an ideal candidate for gene therapy.
Black patients who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are at an increased risk for major adverse outcomes, including death, compared to white patients, according to a study published today in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions. The study underscores the high rates of cardiovascular disease and risk factors in minorities and continued need for further research on race-based outcomes after cardiovascular procedures, including PCI, to understand and alleviate these differences.
What makes ships mysteriously slow down or even stop as they travel, even though their engines are working properly? This was first observed in 1893 and was described experimentally in 1904 without all the secrets of this "dead water" being understood. An interdisciplinary team from the CNRS and the University of Poitiers has explained this phenomenon for the first time: the speed changes in ships trapped in dead water are due to waves that act like an undulating conveyor belt on which the boats move back and forth. This work was published in PNAS on July 6, 2020.
Zero electrical resistance at room temperature? A material with this property, i.e. a room temperature superconductor, could revolutionize power distribution. But so far, the origin of superconductivity at high temperature is only incompletely understood. Scientists from Universität Hamburg and the Cluster of Excellence "CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter" have succeeded in observing strong evidence of superfluidity in a central model system, a two-dimensional gas cloud for the first time.
New York, NY--July 6, 2020--Columbia University researchers report that they have observed a quantum fluid known as the fractional quantum Hall states (FQHS), one of the most delicate phases of matter, for the first time in a monolayer 2D semiconductor. Their findings demonstrate the excellent intrinsic quality of 2D semiconductors and establish them as a unique test platform for future applications in quantum computing. The study was published online today in Nature Nanotechnology.
Power-scalable ultrafast laser sources in the midwave-infrared (MWIR) are a key element for basic research and applications in material processing and medicine. Optical amplifiers based on chirped pulse amplification (CPA) are used to generate high intensity pulses, a technique awarded with the Nobel Prize in physics in 2018. In the CPA scheme, a weak temporally stretched seed pulse is amplified to high energy in a laser amplifier and finally re-compressed resulting in an ultrashort pulse of very high intensity.
A group of researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin have further refined the use of deep brain stimulation in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. By accurately localizing electrode placement in the brains of patients, the researchers were able to identify a fiber tract which is associated with the best clinical outcomes following deep brain stimulation. The researchers' findings, which have been published in Nature Communications*, may be used to improve the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
As professional sports look to make a phased return behind closed doors across much of Europe, researchers from the University of Bath caution that the prolonged individual training players have been exposed to for months is insufficient to help athletes maintain the physical fitness and mental strength they need for competition.
Writing in the International Journal of Sports Medicine the researchers and sports physicians express their fears that injuries could increase once competitions resume and make recommendations for resuming training.
Traditional tuneable lenses consisting of complex lenses with manipulation systems have limited designs because of the spatial occupancy, which eventually confines their applications in advanced pixel-based devices, such as flat panel displays. The graphene can be patterned into nanoribbons, then a graphene-based FZP lens can be an ideal combination of near and far optical fields because the optical conductivity of graphene can be tuned by adjusting the Fermi level or by varying the geometry.
Layered van der Waals materials are of high interest for electronic and photonic applications, according to researchers at Penn State and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, in California, who provide new insights into the interactions of layered materials with laser and electron beams.
Two-dimensional van der Waals materials are composed of strongly bonded layers of molecules with weak bonding between the layers.
Climate - Predicting fire risk
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a method that uses machine learning to predict seasonal fire risk in Africa, where half of the world's wildfire-related carbon emissions originate.
In an effort to improve large touchscreens, LED light panels and window-mounted infrared solar cells, researchers at the University of Michigan have made plastic conductive while also making it more transparent.
They provide a recipe to help other researchers find the best balance between conductivity and transparency by creating a three-layer anti-reflection surface. The conductive metal layer is sandwiched between two "dielectric" materials that allow light to pass through easily. The dielectrics reduce the reflection from both the plastic and metal layer between them.
(Boston)--Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have developed and implemented a new way to better understand how human cells communicate with each other, how this communication is disrupted in human diseases and how this can be corrected pharmacologically.
Over the past few years, fuel cells have become a focal point of research in eco-friendly technology because of their superior abilities to store and produce renewable energy and clean fuel. A typical type of fuel cell gaining ground is the proton-conducting fuel cell, which is primarily made of materials through which hydrogen ions (protons: H+), can easily move.