Safety critical components for aircraft and Formula 1 racing cars could one day be 3D printed via a new technique that substantially reduces imperfections in the manufacturing process.
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A hybrid microscope allows scientists to simultaneously image the full 3D orientation and position of an ensemble of molecules, such as labeled proteins inside cells. The microscope combines polarized fluorescence technology, a valuable tool for measuring the orientation of molecules, with a dual-view light sheet microscope (diSPIM), which excels at imaging along the depth (axial) axis of a sample.
Agricultural fertilizers are critical for feeding the world's population, restoring soil fertility and sustaining crops. Excessive and inefficient use of those resources can present an environmental threat, contaminating waterways and generating greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. Now, researchers have addressed those challenges with glass fertilizer beads. The beads control nutrient release, and the researchers say they're environmentally compatible.
Researchers have developed a fully biobased hair conditioner using lignin gel emulsions, offering a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional haircare products.
Researchers are blurring the lines between robotics and materials, with a proof-of-concept material-like collective of robots with behaviors inspired by biology.
Using underwater microphones and machine learning (ML), researchers have developed a new method to estimate North Atlantic right whale numbers -- offering a potentially safer and more cost-effective way to monitor this critically endangered species.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly large language models like GPT-4, has shown impressive performance on reasoning tasks. But does AI truly understand abstract concepts, or is it just mimicking patterns? A new study reveals that while GPT models perform well on some analogy tasks, they fall short when the problems are altered, highlighting key weaknesses in AI's reasoning capabilities.
Experts say a focus on re-wetting our parched peat would significantly dampen down the UK's fire-driven carbon emissions and help mitigate against climate change.
Scientists have now mapped the forces acting inside a proton, showing in unprecedented detail how quarks -- the tiny particles within -- respond when hit by high-energy photons. The international team includes experts who are exploring the structure of sub-atomic matter to try to provide further insight into the forces that underpin the natural world.
Researchers have applied a visualization technique to depict the brain's activity related to visual perception as geometric patterns. They visualized different shapes as the ever-changing neuronal activity in the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain during object recognition and recalling memories. This achievement promises further extraction of brain activity observed in various aspects of daily life.
Using the microscopic structures found on the wings of the Morpho butterfly, researchers have developed a simple and inexpensive way to analyze cancer biopsy samples that could make cancer diagnosis faster, more accurate and more accessible worldwide.
Rubidium could be the next key player in oxide-ion conductors. Researchers have discovered a rare rubidium (Rb)-containing oxide-ion conductor with exceptionally high conductivity. Identified through computational screening and experiments, its superior performance stems from low activation energy and structural features like large free volume and tetrahedral motion. Its stability under various conditions offers a promising direction for solid oxide fuel cells and clean energy technologies.
Sweden's Viking Age population appears to have suffered from severe oral and maxillofacial disease, sinus and ear infections, osteoarthritis, and much more. This is shown in a study in which Viking skulls were examined using modern X-ray techniques.
Researchers have discovered a fundamental mechanism that affects the size of the pupil, namely our breathing. The study shows that the pupil is smallest during inhalation and largest during exhalation -- something that could affect our vision.
Groundbreaking study shows machine learning can decode emotions in seven ungulate species. A game-changer for animal welfare? Can artificial intelligence help us understand what animals feel? A pioneering study suggests the answer is yes. Researchers have successfully trained a machine-learning model to distinguish between positive and negative emotions in seven different ungulate species, including cows, pigs, and wild boars. By analyzing the acoustic patterns of their vocalizations, the model achieved an impressive accuracy of 89.49%, marking the first cross-species study to detect emotional valence using AI.
Because almost no existing programs focus specifically on reducing ultra-processed food (UPF) intake, researchers recently designed an intervention that included a variety of tactics to target the uniquely problematic aspects of UPFs. On average, participants successfully reduced their UPF intake by almost half.
Adding engineered human blood vessel-forming cells to islet transplants boosted the survival of the insulin-producing cells and reversed diabetes in a preclinical study. The new approach, which requires further development and testing, could someday enable the much wider use of islet transplants to cure diabetes.
Researchers have pioneered a new catalytic transformation that converts epoxides into fluorinated oxetanes, a coveted but difficult-to-make class of drug molecules that escaped synthetic preparation for years. By unlocking a pathway to these valuable drug scaffolds, this discovery potentially opens the door to new medicines for drug discovery applications.
Infection with Zika virus in pregnancy can lead to neurological disorders, fetal abnormalities and fetal death. Until now, how the virus manages to cross the placenta, which nurtures the developing fetus and forms a strong barrier against microbes and chemicals that could harm the fetus, has not been clear. Researchers now report a strategy Zika virus uses to covertly spread in placental cells, raising little alarm in the immune system.
Researchers have investigated how microbubbles tiny gas bubbles can deliver drugs into cells in a targeted manner using ultrasound. For the first time, they have visualized how tiny cyclic microjets liquid jets generated by microbubbles penetrate the cell membrane enabling the drug uptake.
Perovskite solar cells are highly efficient and low cost in production. However, they still lack stability over the decades under real weather conditions. An international research collaboration has now explored the effects of multiple thermal cycles on microstructures and interactions between different layers of perovskite solar cells. They conclude that thermal stress is the decisive factor in the degradation of metal-halide perovskites. Based on this, they derive the most promising strategies to increase the long-term stability of perovskite solar cells.
A recent study has shown that oyster management practices in the Rappahannock River benefit both the health of the oyster reefs as well as the fishery.
One of nature's most disliked creatures may very well unlock a breakthrough in disaster response. A multidisciplinary research team is recreating mosquito antennae to better study their sensitivity to vibrations.
Seeking mental health help is a significant step, but that first intake session can often feel more like paperwork than progress, and a significant proportion of people 'drop out' or never return for a second visit, previous research has shown. In a new review investigators confirmed that single-session interventions (SSIs) can significantly improve mental health outcomes in both youth and adults. Common in other countries but not the U.S., an SSI is a structured program intentionally designed to provide meaningful support, guidance or treatment in just one meeting, recognizing that many patients may not return for a follow-up appointment.
Research on the vanishing coastlines of Alexandria, Egypt, offers nature-based solutions for protecting coastal cities globally, including those in California.
Biologists, using a technique that explores both genes and structural characteristics, have introduced 10 new species of marine sponge. Despite their distinction as one of Earth's oldest lifeforms and the key role they play in sustaining coral reef ecosystems, marine sponges are vastly understudied.
Researchers developed a low-cost, scalable terahertz amplifier that could be used to make antenna arrays that can steer and focus high-frequency terahertz waves, for applications like high-resolution radar, high-speed communications, and medical imaging.
After a cyber attack or natural disaster, a backup network of decentralized devices -- like residential solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, heat pumps, and water heaters -- could restore electricity or relieve stress on the grid, engineers find.
A novel system that chases larval zebrafish around an arena with predator robots is enabling scientists to understand how these days-old fish quickly learn in the real world.
In a leap forward for quantum computing, physicists unveiled an eight-qubit topological quantum processor, the first of its kind. The chip, built as a proof-of-concept for the scientists' design, opens the door to the development of the long-awaited topological quantum computer.
Human evolution has revolved around food, from identifying and foraging for it to growing and preparing it. Researchers have identified a region in the brain's visual cortex that responds to food and have developed a theoretical framework that could explain the origins of this selectivity. The team outlines how visual and nonvisual signals contribute to the brain's cortical responses when people were shown images of food. Researchers also found that images of food in context elicited additional responses in the brain, as compared to images without context. One explanation for this finding is that seeing these objects in their natural context might invoke the varied experiences of interacting with food or other information related to identifying food as just that: food. For example, signals that could influence food selectivity in the visual cortex include color, social cues or the motor actions of eating.
A team of researchers has outlined a new approach for better understanding the depths of animal consciousness, a method that may yield new insights into the similarities and differences among living organisms.
Chemical engineers have discovered that adding nickel atoms to silver catalysts could revolutionize the production of ethylene oxide by eliminating the need for toxic chlorine while maintaining efficiency. The breakthrough could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the $40 billion global ethylene oxide industry, which currently produces this crucial chemical used in plastics, textiles, antifreeze, and disinfectants through a process that emits millions of tons of carbon dioxide annually.
