Tech
In a new study, Stanford psychologists examined why some people respond differently to an upsetting situation and learned that people's motivations play an important role in how they react.
Childhood cancer is a rare occurrence in the overall population but may be somewhat more frequent in children born with birth defects. To better understand the link between cancer risk and birth defects, a collaborative team of scientists led by Baylor College of Medicine has assembled the largest study to date to evaluate cancer risk in children with birth defects. The study appears in JAMA Oncology.
ITHACA, N.Y. - Cornell University researchers have developed an algorithm designed to visualize models of the universe in order to solve some of physics' greatest mysteries.
The algorithm was developed by applying scientific principles used to create models for understanding cell biology and physics to the challenges of cosmology and big data.
"Science works because things behave much more simply than they have any right to," said professor of physics James Sethna. "Very complicated things end up doing rather simple collective behavior."
New York, NY—June 24, 2019—Researchers from Brown and Columbia Universities have demonstrated previously unknown states of matter that arise in double-layer stacks of graphene, a two-dimensional nanomaterial. These new states, known as the fractional quantum Hall effect, arise from the complex interactions of electrons both within and across graphene layers.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- If cicadas made horror movies, they'd probably study the actions of their counterparts plagued by a certain psychedelic fungus.
West Virginia University researchers have discovered that a cicada fungus called Massopora contains chemicals similar to those found in hallucinogenic mushrooms.
The fungus causes cicadas to lose their limbs and eccentric behavior sets in: Males try to mate with everything they encounter, although the fungus has consumed their genitals and butts.
Strengthening biosecurity is widely considered the best strategy to reduce the devastating impact of disease outbreaks in the multi-billion-dollar global swine industry, but successfully doing so all comes down to human decision-making, a University of Vermont study shows.
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 25, 2019 -- A group of University of California, San Diego researchers set out to gain a better understanding of the thermal balance of power plants and surfaces, like heliostat mirrors or solar panels, when exposed to both solar (shortwave) and atmospheric (longwave) radiation. They quickly realized that they would first need to determine what roles cloud cover and relative humidity play in the transparency of the atmosphere to radiation at temperatures common on Earth.
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 25, 2019 -- A new mathematical model of the structure of networks could help find new cancer drugs, speed up traffic flow and combat sexually transmitted disease.
Although the three challenges seem diverse, they all could benefit from a theory that helps to uncover unknown information about a network by analyzing its structure. The study was published in the journal Chaos, from AIP Publishing.
Prof. LIU Bo and colleagues at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) have developed a chiral separation membrane capable of capturing left-handed chiral molecules and releasing right-handed counterpart using two-dimensional layered materials. The chiral membrane, showing a separation efficiency up to 89% towards limonene racemate, is expected to be put into industrial production. The research was published in Nature Communications on June 7.
Quantum computation has been drawing the attention of many scientists because of its potential to outperform the capabilities of standard computers for certain tasks. For the realization of a quantum computer, one of the most essential features is quantum entanglement. This describes an effect in which several quantum particles are interconnected in a complex way. If one of the entangled particles is influenced by an external measurement, the state of the other entangled particle changes as well, no matter how far apart they may be from one another.
Stem cells are not only key players in tissue regeneration, they are also capable of taking direct action against bacteria. This is the finding of a study conducted by researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, which describes what happens during a Helicobacter pylori infection of the human stomach. By actively fighting the colonizing bacteria, gastric stem cells protect themselves against damage that can lead to cancer. Results from this study have been published in Nature Cell Biology*.
Although largely paralyzed, ALS patients can communicate through eye-tracking devices because they retain eye movement until the disease's late stages. Yet, how some motor neurons resist ALS to allow for this movement has been a mystery.
Now, scientists have developed a stem-cell-based modeling system that identifies how some neurons are resistant to ALS--a breakthrough that offers potential for battling neurodegeneration.
It can take up to four weeks before patients can be sure whether the entire tumor has been removed during cancer surgery. A time of agonizing uncertainty - in which any remaining tumor cells can already multiply again. A team of scientists from Jena has now researched a diagnostic procedure that could revolutionize the previous procedure: Using laser light, the researchers make cancerous tissue visible. This enables them to provide the surgical team with real-time information in order to reliably identify tumors and tumor margins and decide how much tissue needs to be cut away.
For the last 100 years materials such as gold and silicon have been conduits to the force which has powered civilisation: electronics. And in all such conventional materials the behaviour of electrons is simple: they largely ignore each other.
However, future electronics designed for quantum technologies requires development of new quantum materials. In quantum materials, e.g. high temperature superconductors, electrons interact so strongly and behave so strangely that, until now, they have defied explanation.
People who order their Buffalo wings especially spicy and sometimes find them to be too "hot," should choose milk to reduce the burn, according to Penn State researchers, who also suggest it does not matter if it is whole or skim.
The research originated as an effort by the Sensory Evaluation Center in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences to identify a beverage to clear the palates of participants in tasting studies involving capsaicin. An extract from chili peppers, capsaicin is considered an irritant because it causes warming and burning sensations.