Tech
No one expected the "Automated Guided Vehicles" at St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway, to have personalities. These motorized units, like long boxes on wheels, are merely meant to transport garbage, medical equipment or food from one part of the hospital to another. But because they have to interact with humans, by warning them to get out of the way, they have to talk.
And that's when the fun began.
The coronavirus pandemic has created a great demand for rapidly diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infections. Reliable rapid tests are needed, for example, at airports and ports for testing travellers quickly and effortlessly before their journey.
Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed a new rapid assay principle for viral antigen detection, applying it to diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University and Université Grenoble Alpes (France) have proposed a more accurate method for loading capability assessment of power transformers. As an example, the scientists defined the loading capability of the power transformer in Tomsk and Grenoble. The research findings are published in the International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems (IF: 3,588, Q1).
Due to the extensive clearing of their habitat, these primates sometimes turn to palm oil monocultures while foraging. This often leads to conflicts with farmers. The macaques do not damage the palm oil fruits to any great extent. On the contrary, they can even benefit palm oil cultivation, as they are excellent hunters of the masses of rats found on plantations, the main pest found there. As a new study has now been able to prove, however, regularly visiting the plantations has a significant impact on macaques' social behaviour.
Active music-making can provide cognitive benefits to older adults with mild cognitive impairment or dementia, according to an analysis of all relevant studies. The analysis, which is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, also found that music may help improve their quality of life and mood.
Little is known concerning environmental contaminants in predators at the top of a food chain. A study published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has demonstrated that new types of brominated flame retardants accumulate in the tissues of killer whales near Norway and are also passed on to nursing offspring.
The work was conducted under the auspices of the Russian Science Foundation; the project "Synthesis and research of a new class of nanocomposite ceramics with degenerate dielectric constant for optoplasmonic applications" is headed by Professor Sergey Kharintsev (KFU's Institute of Physics).
"I think you're on mute." This was the most-used phrase of 2020, according to Human Resources Online. Emblazoned on T-shirts and embossed on coffee-mugs, we used the meme to make fun of ourselves while learning video-conferencing tools like Zoom and Microsoft's Teams.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- The field of mathematical topology is often described in terms of donuts and pretzels.
The rhythmic motions of hair-like cilia move liquids around cells or propel the cells themselves. In nature, cilia flap independently, and mimicking these movements with artificial materials requires complex mechanisms. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have made artificial cilia that move in a wave-like fashion when a rotating magnetic field is applied, making them suitable for versatile, climbing soft robots and microfluidic devices. Watch a video of the artificial cilia here.
Keto, gluten-free, organic: If a pet owner is on a specific diet, chances are their dog is on it, too, a new U of G study reveals.
But when it comes to a grain-free diet, owners seem to choose it more for their dogs than themselves, the study also found.
"It demonstrates that many variables, not just dietary habits, influence the selection of dog food," said study lead author Sydney Banton, a master's student in U of G's Department of Animal Biosciences.
The sun delivers more energy to Earth in one hour than humanity consumes over an entire year. Scientists worldwide are searching for materials that can cost-effectively and efficiently capture this carbon-free energy and convert it into electricity.
Perovskites, a class of materials with a unique crystal structure, could overtake current technology for solar energy harvesting. They are cheaper than materials used in current solar cells, and they have demonstrated remarkable photovoltaic properties — behavior that allows them to very efficiently convert sunlight into electricity.
During a 15-year study of wild bees visiting blueberry fields during their blooming season, researchers caught an unexpected glimpse of how extreme weather events can impact bee populations highlighting the need for more long-term studies, says a Michigan State University researcher.
"There are few bee studies in the U.S. that have sampled bees for many years at the same location," said Rufus Isaacs, a professor in the Department of Entomology within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, "There are even fewer that use the same methods over more than a decade."
The younger generation of workers, although raised with and on technology, are not as technology savvy as the older generations believe.
A team of researchers at the Centre Spatial de Liège (CSL) of the University of Liège has just developed a method to identify the contributors and origins of stray light on space telescopes. This is a major advance in the field of space engineering that will help in the acquisition of even finer space images and the development of increasingly efficient space instruments. This study has just been published in the journal Scientific Reports.