Tech
'Whoopi' the manta ray - a regular visitor to Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef - has helped University of Queensland and Murdoch University scientists study rays' impressive ability to heal.
Whoopi, who has swum with thousands of tourists WA's over the years, was hit by a boat in 2015, suffering propeller cuts measuring up to 20 centimetres to the edge of her wing.
Dr Christine Dudgeon from UQ's School of Biomedical Sciences said such a strike was relatively rare, but could cause significant injuries to the animal.
Soft pressure sensors have received significant research attention in a variety of fields, including soft robotics, electronic skin, and wearable electronics. Wearable soft pressure sensors have great potential for the real-time health monitoring and for the early diagnosis of diseases.
A KAIST research team led by Professor Inkyu Park from the Department of Mechanical Engineering developed a highly sensitive wearable pressure sensor for health monitoring applications. This work was reported in Advanced Healthcare Materials on November 21 as a front cover article.
Researchers of the Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials, within the Institute of Basic Science (IBS, South Korea), have presented a theoretical solution to a long-lasting mystery of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) growth. Published in Physical Review Letters, this study explains why nanoparticles made with an alloy of metals help to synthetize longer CNTs compared with conventional monometallic catalysts.
A team of mathematicians from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Brown University has discovered a new phenomenon that generates a fluidic force capable of moving and binding particles immersed in density-layered fluids. The breakthrough offers an alternative to previously held assumptions about how particles accumulate in lakes and oceans and could lead to applications in locating biological hotspots, cleaning up the environment and even in sorting and packing.
SILVER SPRING, Md.--A new analysis suggests that the increasing average body size of people on Earth, in addition to the growing world population may further challenge attempts to reduce man-made carbon dioxide emissions, according to a paper published online in Obesity, the flagship journal of The Obesity Society.
Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) have identified the molecular mechanisms that allow our cells to adapt to, protect themselves against, and survive mechanical stress. The results, published today in Nature Communications, show that our cells produce molecules that act as a type of 'airbag' in response to mechanical stress. Without this protective and adaptive system, the heart, an organ subject to continuous mechanical forces, "would be unable to correctly perform its blood-pumping role," explained lead author Miguel Ángel del Pozo.
New computer chip enables information to be sent from user to user using a one-time un-hackable communication
Technology overcomes major threat of quantum computers, which are soon predicted to be able to crack existing communication methods
The method uses existing communication networks and takes up less space on the networks.
Recent studies have shown that under the axonal membrane, rings composed of actin filaments give the structure its flexibility. But those studies had not been able to define the precise architecture of these rings. By combining two microscopy techniques, optical and electronic, French researchers have now managed to observe these rings at the molecular scale. They are formed of long braided actin filaments, braided like a Christmas wreath.
Researchers have shown mechanical force can start chemical reactions, making them cheaper, more broadly applicable, and more environmentally friendly than conventional methods.
Chemical reactions are most conventionally prompted by heating up the reaction mixtures. Within the last ten years, there has been extensive research on "photoredox catalysts" that can be activated by visible light and enable highly specific and efficient chemical reactions. However, these reactions often require a large amount of harmful organic solvents, making them applicable only to soluble reactants.
Precision medicine is becoming increasingly important, achieving to create more efficient personalised therapies for each patient and innovative pharmacological developments. In the oncology field, for example, researchers are developing different approaches aimed at directed and controlled drug release systems, thereby diminishing toxicity to the organism.
The Laboratory of the Electronic and Spin Structure of Nanosystems of St Petersburg University is headed by Eugene Chulkov, professor at the University of the Basque Country. Researchers from the laboratory note that they have been working to achieve this result for several years. First, the existence of single crystals with unusual properties was predicted in theory. Then they were synthesised in laboratory at Technische Universität Dresden and Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University.
Quantum materials are worldwide in the focus of research activities within diverse sci-entific disciplines. This material class appears to be increasingly complex and rich in physical phenomena such as magnetism, superconductivity or topology, and is there-fore extremely promising for technological advances in the fields of information pro-cessing, sensors, computing and many more. Also at TU Dresden, quantum materials research plays an important role.
Researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Seville have published a study in the review Nature in which they define new strategies for the manufacturing of a generation of safer and more efficient lithium-ion batteries. In this way, they intend to overcome some of the limitations that these devices currently have. Their storage capacity and the pollution caused by some of the materials used to make them.
While the need for renewable energy around the world is growing exponentially, Lithuanian and German researchers have come up with a novel solution for developing low-cost solar technology. Material, synthesised by Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania scientists, which self-assemble to form a molecular-thick electrode layer, presents a facile way of realising highly efficient perovskite single-junction and tandem solar cells. The licence to produce the material has been purchased by a Japanese company.
Following a new literature review* of the harm reduction potential of snus, Imperial Brands - owners of leading snus brand Skruf - has urged the European Union (EU) to re-examine its position on the product.
Published in the prestigious Harm Reduction Journal, the scientific literature review encouragingly indicates snus use is not a significant risk factor in the development of several cancers (inc. lung, oral and pancreatic), COPD, cardiovascular disease or diabetes.