Tech
Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health have found that rates of two sexually transmitted infections (STIs), gonorrhea and chlamydia, are 15% and 10% higher, respectively, in Texas counties with high shale drilling activity ("fracking"), compared to counties without any fracking.
No association, however, was observed between drilling and STI rates in Colorado or North Dakota. Also, rates of a third STI, syphilis, were not elevated in any of the states.
A new smartphone app to tackle pests destroying crops has been developed - and it could soon help farmers whose lands are being decimated by swarms of locusts, something the UN has called for "rapid action" action on.
The team of researchers from the University of Lincoln, UK, has designed and built the specialist app, called MAESTRO*, which can recognise locusts and grasshopper pests through the smartphone's camera and record their GPS location.
The researchers behind the early-stage work, published in JCI Insight, are exploring whether kisspeptin can ultimately be used to treat men with common psychosexual disorders - sexual problems which are psychological in origin such as low libido. The team are now hoping to perform trials in patients with low sexual desire.
Pressure treating - which involves putting lumber inside a pressurized watertight tank and forcing chemicals into the boards - has been used for more than a century to help stave off the fungus that causes wood rot in wet environments.
Now researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new method that could one day replace conventional pressure treating as a way to make lumber not only fungal-resistant but also nearly impervious to water - and more thermally insulating.
A storyline with emotionally evocative details can reduce virtual reality cybersickness for some people, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of Waterloo found that storylines that provide context and details can help users feel immersed in VR experiences and can reduce feelings of nausea, disorientation and eye strain, depending on a user's gaming experience.
Individuals who visit natural spaces weekly, and feel psychologically connected to them, report better physical and mental wellbeing, new research has shown.
Alongside the benefits to public health, those who make weekly nature visits, or feel connected to nature, are also more likely to behave in ways which promote environmental health, such as recycling and conservation activities.
It has long been the dream of infectious disease researchers around the world to create a safe, non-toxic way to kill mosquitoes.
University of New Mexico scientists may have found a way to do just that with a simple hack that uses ordinary baker's yeast and orange oil to kill mosquito larvae before they grow into the buzzing, biting scourge of humanity.
In a paper published this month in the journal Parasites & Vectors, they report their method is effective against Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit dengue, chikunguya and Zika.
Researchers at the University of Bath have developed a revolutionary desalination process that has the potential to be operated in mobile, solar-powered units.
The process is low cost, low energy and low maintenance, and has the potential to provide safe water to communities in remote and disaster-struck areas where fresh water is in short supply.
A team of scientists from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University has gained insight into how electric fields affect the way energy from light drives molecular motion and transformation in a protein commonly used in biological imaging. A better understanding of this phenomenon, which is crucial to many processes that occur in biological systems and materials, could enable researchers to finely tune a system's properties to harness these effects, for instance using light to control neurons in the brain.
Energy harvesting, a technology to transform small quantities of naturally occurring energy (e.g. light, heat and vibration) into electricity, is gaining attention as a method to power the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. This technology helps reduce environmental impacts and has a potential to power electronic devices in a stable and long-term manner, unlike batteries that need recharging or replacing.
A pilot study undertaken by researchers from the University of South Australia at Adelaide Zoo, has developed a new way to undertake basic health checks of exotic wildlife using a digital camera, saving them the stress of an anaesthetic.
Filming animals using a high-resolution digital camera installed on a tripod could offer another way for veterinarians to take an animal's pulse or check its breathing rate.
Osaka, Japan - Proteins are essential parts of organisms; thus, they are widely used in medicine, biology and chemistry. Enhancing their inherent properties by adding functional molecules to their structures is a common and important step in many fields. For example, adding fluorescent molecules allows proteins to be traced and quantified. Many different modification strategies with various advantages have been described. Osaka University researchers now report a simple N terminus-specific modification carried out under mild conditions using new reagents prepared in one step.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- A new study reveals good news for the possibility of using perovskite materials in next-generation solar cells.
The study, published in the journal Acta Materialia, finds that though perovskite films tend to crack easily, those cracks are easily healed with some compression or a little bit of heat. That bodes well, the researchers say, for the use of inexpensive perovskites to replace or complement pricy silicon in solar cell technologies.
BINGHAMTON, NY -- A team of mechanical engineers at Binghamton University, State University of New York investigating a revolutionary kind of micro-switch has found another application for its ongoing research.
After finding a new type of MEMS (microelectromechanical system) that allows better control, the researchers have used that knowledge to build an air-pressure sensor that could improve many everyday devices.
Leesburg, VA, February 12, 2020--Mobile devices proved both reliable and accurate for the clinical decision to administer IV thrombolysis in patients with acute stroke, according to an ahead-of-print article in the April issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR).