ScienceDaily: Matter & Energy News |
| Robotic 'Third Thumb' use can alter brain representation of the hand Posted: 20 May 2021 01:03 PM PDT Using a robotic 'Third Thumb' can impact how the hand is represented in the brain, finds a new study. |
| Brain stimulation evoking sense of touch improves control of robotic arm Posted: 20 May 2021 11:53 AM PDT The brain-computer interface user was able to transfer objects with a robotic arm at twice the speed of doing it without the tactile feedback. |
| Compound commonly found in candles lights the way to grid-scale energy storage Posted: 20 May 2021 11:53 AM PDT A compound used widely in candles offers promise for a much more modern energy challenge -- storing massive amounts of energy to be fed into the electric grid as the need arises. Researchers show that low-cost organic compounds hold promise for storing energy that would kick in when the grid goes offline due to severe weather, and for storing renewable energy. |
| Self-organizing human heart organoids in a dish Posted: 20 May 2021 10:39 AM PDT Biologists have used human pluripotent stem cells to grow sesame-seed-sized heart models, called cardioids, that spontaneously self-organize to develop a hollow chamber without the need of experimental scaffolds. This advance allows for the creation of some of the most realistic heart organoids to date. |
| New type of particle accelerator: Electrons riding a double wave Posted: 20 May 2021 10:37 AM PDT An international research group has now made significant progress in the further development of compact plasma accelerators, considered a promising technology for the future: With two complementary experiments, the team was able to combine two different plasma technologies for the first time and build a novel hybrid accelerator. The concept could advance accelerator development and, in the long term, become the basis of highly brilliant X-ray sources for research and medicine. |
| Epigenetic mechanism can explain how chemicals in plastic may cause lower IQ levels Posted: 20 May 2021 10:37 AM PDT The chemical bisphenol F (found in plastics) can induce changes in a gene that is vital for neurological development. The mechanism could explain why exposure to this chemical during the fetal stage may be connected with a lower IQ at seven years of age -- an association previously seen by the same research group. |
| Airborne radar reveals groundwater beneath glacier Posted: 20 May 2021 10:37 AM PDT Researchers have detected groundwater beneath a glacier in Greenland for the first time using airborne radar data. If applicable to other glaciers and ice sheets, the technique could allow for more accurate predictions of future sea-level rise. |
| A safer, greener way to make solar cells: Toxic solvent replaced Posted: 19 May 2021 01:36 PM PDT Scientists have found a way to replace the toxic, unsustainable solvents currently needed to make the next generation of solar technology - printed carbon perovskite solar cells. |
| Nuclear terrorism could be intercepted by neutron-gamma detector that pinpoints source Posted: 19 May 2021 01:36 PM PDT Scanning technology aimed at detecting small amounts of nuclear materials was unveiled by scientists in Sweden today, with the hope of preventing acts of nuclear terrorism. |
| Tampons, sanitary napkins could diagnose yeast infections with color-changing threads Posted: 19 May 2021 09:09 AM PDT The yeast Candida albicans can cause itchy, painful urinary tract and vaginal yeast infections. For women in low-resource settings who lack access to healthcare facilities, these infections create substantial social and economic burdens. Now, researchers have developed color-changing threads that turn bright pink in the presence of C. albicans. When embedded in tampons or sanitary napkins, they could allow women to quickly and discreetly self-diagnose vulvovaginal yeast infections, the researchers say. |
| Envisioning safer cities with AI Posted: 19 May 2021 09:08 AM PDT Researchers developed a suite of AI tools that can automatically identify characteristics of every buildings in a city and compute the risks they would face during a natural hazard event. The team tested the tools with simulated earthquakes in San Francisco; and hurricanes in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the Texas coast, and Atlantic City, New Jersey. The simulations generated realistic spatial distributions of buildings and identified some building characteristics with 100% accuracy. |
| Magnetically propelled cilia power climbing soft robots and microfluidic pumps Posted: 19 May 2021 09:06 AM PDT 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 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. |
| Researchers use 'hole-y' math and machine learning to study cellular self-assembly Posted: 19 May 2021 08:48 AM PDT A new study shows that mathematical topology can reveal how human cells organize into complex spatial patterns, helping to categorize them by the formation of branched and clustered structures. |
| An illuminating possibility for stroke treatment: Nano-photosynthesis Posted: 19 May 2021 05:05 AM PDT Blocked blood vessels in the brains of stroke patients prevent oxygen-rich blood from getting to cells, causing severe damage. Plants and some microbes produce oxygen through photosynthesis. What if there was a way to make photosynthesis happen in the brains of patients? Now, researchers have done just that in cells and in mice, using blue-green algae and special nanoparticles, in a proof-of-concept demonstration. |
| New, biological, and safer soaps Posted: 19 May 2021 05:04 AM PDT An international research team has discovered a new molecule with potential to revolutionize the biosurfactant market. |
| The environmental trade-offs of autonomous vehicles Posted: 19 May 2021 05:04 AM PDT Optimistic predictions expect reliable autonomous vehicles to be commercially available by 2030, at a time when mobility is undergoing a profound shift away from traditional modes of transportation and towards door-to-door services. |
| Rising energy demand for cooling Posted: 18 May 2021 05:54 PM PDT Climate-related temperature rises will further increase the cooling demand of buildings. A projection by researchers based on data from the NEST building and future climate scenarios for Switzerland shows that this increase in energy demand for cooling is likely to be substantial and could have a strong impact on our future - electrified - energy system. |
| Environmental concerns propel research into marine biofuels Posted: 18 May 2021 08:49 AM PDT A global effort to reduce sulfur and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships has researchers investigating the potential use of marine biofuels. |
| Scientists debut most efficient 'optical rectennas,' devices that harvest power from heat Posted: 18 May 2021 08:48 AM PDT For decades, researchers have theorized that 'optical rectennas' could sit on everything from bakery ovens to dirigibles flying high above Earth to harvest waste heat and turn it into electricity. But to date, those goals have remained elusive. Now, engineers have unveiled a highly efficient optical rectenna. |
| Toward overcoming solubility issues in organic chemistry Posted: 18 May 2021 08:42 AM PDT Scientists have developed a rapid, efficient protocol for cross-coupling reactions, vastly expanding the pool of chemicals that can be used for the synthesis of useful organic compounds. |
| White roofs and more green areas would mitigate the effects of heat waves in cities Posted: 18 May 2021 08:41 AM PDT A study evaluates the effectiveness of different urban solutions to reduce the temperature in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. |
| Posted: 18 May 2021 08:41 AM PDT A microchip technology test kit may facilitate point-of-care testing in remote locations, clinics, and airports while providing similar accuracy to the tube-based real-time PCR tests, investigators report. |
| Is the past (and future) there when nobody looks? Posted: 14 May 2021 10:40 AM PDT Quantum mechanics is famous for its indeterminism, but we can usually use probabilities to quantify our uncertainty about future observations. However, researchers have recently shown that in certain extreme quantum scenarios it is not possible to make such probabilistic predictions, provided that certain key assumptions of quantum mechanics hold true. |
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