Tech
To further shrink electronic devices and to lower energy consumption, the semiconductor industry is interested in using 2D materials, but manufacturers need a quick and accurate method for detecting defects in these materials to determine if the material is suitable for device manufacture. Now a team of researchers has developed a technique to quickly and sensitively characterize defects in 2D materials.
Two-dimensional materials are atomically thin, the most well-known being graphene, a single-atom-thick layer of carbon atoms.
A low-cost test that screens for excess protein in the urine has been shown to accurately identify patients at higher risk for progressive kidney disease after being hospitalized for acute kidney injury, according to a new study by researchers at UC San Francisco.
Targeting treatment to these high-risk patients could reduce the future need for dialysis or kidney transplants and save patients and the U.S. health care system billions of dollars, the researchers said.
While elected officials in the U.S. debate a proposed "Green New Deal" and U.S. President Donald Trump derides "prophets of doom" in Davos, environmental scientists continue to gather evidence about how changes to industry could mitigate the harms of climate change.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A team of physicists has discovered an electrical detection method for terahertz electromagnetic waves, which are extremely difficult to detect. The discovery could help miniaturize the detection equipment on microchips and enhance sensitivity.
Terahertz is a unit of electromagnetic wave frequency: One gigahertz equals 1 billion hertz; 1 terahertz equals 1,000 gigahertz. The higher the frequency, the faster the transmission of information. Cell phones, for example, operate at a few gigahertz.
Cutting emissions of particular gases could improve conditions for plants, allowing them to grow faster and capture more carbon, new research suggests.
A cocktail of gases - including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and methane - combines in the atmosphere to form ozone.
Ozone at the Earth's surface limits photosynthesis, reducing plants' ability to grow.
University of Exeter researchers say cutting emissions of ozone-forming gases offers a "unique opportunity" to create a "natural climate solution".
The time it takes for species to respond to conservation measures - known as an 'ecological time lag' - could be partly masking any real progress that is being made, experts have warned.
Global conservation targets to reverse declines in biodiversity and halt species extinctions are not being met, despite decades of conservation action.
Last year, a UN report on global biodiversity warned one million species are at risk of extinction within decades, putting the world's natural life-support systems in jeopardy.
LOS ANGELES (STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL JAN. 27, 2020 @ 11AM EST) -- People who develop Parkinson's disease before age 50 may have been born with disordered brain cells that went undetected for decades, according to new Cedars-Sinai research. The research points to a drug that potentially might help correct these disease processes.
At a time when scams seem all around us and fake news appears to be on the rise, you might be relieved to know that even young children show some impressive skills when it comes to identifying poor sources of information, suggests new research from the University of British Columbia.
In the same way that a single piece of a puzzle fits into the whole, the molecule hypoxanthine binds to a ribonucleic acid (RNA) chain, which then changes its three-dimensional shape within a second and in so doing triggers new processes in the cell. Thanks to an improved method, researchers are now able to follow almost inconceivably tiny structural changes in cells as they progress - both in terms of time as well as space.
«First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado, second prize a set of steak knives, third prize you're fired». What Alec Baldwin introduces in a famous Glengarry Glen Ross scene is a particularly crude form of performance ranking and what follows in the movie is a story of cheating, betrayal, and infighting as actors attempt to get ahead in the raking. In the real life, the risks with performance rankings are not too far off.
Compared with routine care, weight loss surgery was linked with a reduced risk of hypertension, heart failure, and early death in a study based on information from a primary care database in the UK. The findings are published in BJS (British Journal of Surgery).
Weight loss surgery may reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer by one-third, according to an analysis of all relevant published studies. The findings are published in BJS (British Journal of Surgery).
HOUSTON - (Jan. 27, 2020) - That banana peel, turned into graphene, can help facilitate a massive reduction of the environmental impact of concrete and other building materials. While you're at it, toss in those plastic empties.
What can be reused and what can be disposed of? Cells also face this tricky task. Researchers from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have now discovered a cellular machine, called FERARI, that sorts out usable proteins for recycling. In Nature Cell Biology, they explain how FERARI works and why it is so special.
Recycling, the reuse of material, saves energy and resources. No wonder that nature also recycles. In the cells, tiny organelles, so-called endosomes, separate the delivered cellular material into reusable material and waste.
Roughly one-third of young males and 1 in 10 females in rural communities have carried a handgun, reports a new University of Washington study. And, the study found, many of those rural kids started carrying as early as the sixth grade.