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| More intense roasting of cocoa beans lessens bitterness, boosts chocolate liking Posted: 24 Feb 2022 03:03 PM PST Confection makers who want to develop products containing 100% chocolate and no sugar for health-conscious consumers can reduce bitterness and optimize flavor acceptance by roasting cocoa beans longer and at higher temperatures. |
| New understanding of complex catalysis advances catalyst design Posted: 24 Feb 2022 03:03 PM PST Understanding the reaction pathways and kinetics of catalytic reactions at the atomic scale is critical to designing catalysts for more energy-efficient and sustainable chemical production, especially multimaterial catalysts that have ever-changing surface structures. Researchers have now peered into the black box to understand the evolving structures in a multimaterial catalyst at the atomic scale. |
| Discovery of ancient underwater landslide could help Middle Eastern nations realize tsunami hazards Posted: 24 Feb 2022 03:03 PM PST An earth scientist has discovered evidence of an ancient underwater landslide and associated tsunami in the Gulf of Aqaba, a subsidiary of the Red Sea, that should serve as a warning for many nations in the Middle East. |
| 'Seeing' non-uniformities in 2D materials may lead to new medical sensors Posted: 24 Feb 2022 03:03 PM PST A novel and better approach at detecting non-uniformities in the optical properties of two-dimensional materials could potentially open the door to new uses for these materials. |
| Interaction with lung cells transforms asbestos particles Posted: 24 Feb 2022 01:17 PM PST Asbestos fibers can cause lung cancer and other diseases, often multiple decades following exposure. Many researchers have sought to elucidate disease mechanisms, but a new study took the opposite approach, using a high-tech microscope to look at how the mineral changed upon interaction with lung cells. Their findings suggest that the mineralogical transformations inside the cells may play a role in triggering disease. |
| Transparent ultrasound chip improves cell stimulation and imaging Posted: 24 Feb 2022 01:15 PM PST Ultrasound scans -- best known for monitoring pregnancies or imaging organs -- can also be used to stimulate cells and direct cell function. A team of researchers has developed an easier, more effective way to harness the technology for biomedical applications. |
| Researchers develop 3D imaging technique to understand how dendrites form in batteries Posted: 24 Feb 2022 11:59 AM PST As the world lessens its dependence on fossil fuels, industries and manufacturers are turning to lithium-ion batteries to power the machines that make modern life possible. These batteries power electric vehicles, mobile phones, drones, vacuum cleaning robots and other machines and will be an essential component to the energy transition. But there's a problem with lithium-ion batteries: as they age and are charged, they develop dendrites. A research team is trying to solve the dendrite problem by investigating how these structures grow on batteries. Dendrites are spiky structures that accumulate on the batteries' anodes. These structures reduce the life of the batteries, hinder their ability to hold a charge and can short-circuit machines potentially causing safety hazards like battery fires. |
| A new platform for customizable quantum devices Posted: 24 Feb 2022 11:09 AM PST Scientists have demonstrated a wide range of tunability in a family of qubits, an important step in designing custom qubits for specific applications. |
| Anti-tumor drug promotes weight loss in mice Posted: 24 Feb 2022 11:08 AM PST An anti-tumor drug promotes weight loss in mice at low doses by activating a natural hunger-suppressing pathway, according to a new study. The results provide a promising new avenue for development of anti-obesity treatments. |
| Largest ever human family tree: 27 million ancestors Posted: 24 Feb 2022 11:08 AM PST Researchers have taken a major step towards mapping the entirety of genetic relationships among humans: a single genealogy that traces the ancestry of all of us. |
| A laser-quick and non-destructive method to detect cracks in concrete structures Posted: 24 Feb 2022 11:08 AM PST Large concrete structures need to be regularly tested for defects that may compromise their stability. While acoustic tests performed by certified inspectors are usually the inspection method of choice, these tests take longer to perform as the structure's size increases. In a new study, scientists developed a new method to identify defects using shock waves generated by laser-induced plasma. The new method is faster, completely non-destructive, and allows for timely evaluation of concrete infrastructure. |
| Entanglement unlocks scaling for quantum machine learning Posted: 24 Feb 2022 09:52 AM PST The field of machine learning on quantum computers got a boost from new research removing a potential roadblock to the practical implementation of quantum neural networks. |
| Farms following soil-friendly practices grow healthier food, study suggests Posted: 24 Feb 2022 09:52 AM PST An experiment conducted on 10 farms across the U.S. suggests that crops from farms following soil-friendly practices for at least five years have a healthier nutritional profile than the same crops grown on neighboring, conventional farms. Researchers believe soil microbes and fungi boost certain beneficial minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals in the crops. |
| Scientists uncover a new approach for treating aggressive cancer Posted: 24 Feb 2022 09:52 AM PST Researchers have uncovered a new role of a chromatin-modulatory enzyme, termed EZH2, during cancer development. They then designed a new small-molecule, MS177, based on the proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology, that targets both EZH2 and cMyc and thus inhibits cancer growth. |
| Student's device enables researchers to easily track elusive insects Posted: 24 Feb 2022 09:06 AM PST With some home security software and a little ingenuity, researchers have developed an inexpensive device that will allow them to study the behavior and activity of insects in regions of the world where they're most diverse. |
| Error mitigation approach helps quantum computers level up Posted: 24 Feb 2022 09:06 AM PST Recent research has yielded a new approach to quantum error mitigation - 'noise estimation circuits' - that could help make quantum computing's theoretical potential a reality. |
| California's push for computer science education examined Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:37 AM PST Despite California's computer science education policies, gender, racial and ethnic disparities persist among the high schools that offer these courses, the students enrolled in them and the faculty who teach them. |
| Reporting entanglements of leatherback turtles is critical for survival Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:27 AM PST New research suggests that leatherback turtles entangled in fishing gear have a better chance of survival if the incident is reported quickly, giving trained responders the opportunity to fully disentangle the animals. |
| Development of a diamond transistor with high hole mobility Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:27 AM PST Using a new fabrication technique, engineers have developed a diamond field-effect transistor (FET) with high hole mobility, which allows reduced conduction loss and higher operational speed. This new FET also exhibits normally-off behavior (i.e., electric current flow through the transistor ceases when no gate voltage is applied, a feature that makes electronic devices safer). These results may facilitate the development of low-loss power conversion and high-speed communications devices. |
| The impacts from using genetic testing to track down relatives Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:26 AM PST Genetic genealogy has become a popular hobby over the past several years, thanks to direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing and relative-finder services offered by some DTC genetic testing companies. Researchers now report results from a survey that asked people who had participated in these services what effect the discovery of previously unknown relatives had on their lives. |
| New stem cell population provides a new way to study the awakening of the human genome Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:26 AM PST Researchers have discovered a new type of stem cell that resembles cells in the early human embryo during the transition of 'genomic power' from mother to embryo. During this major developmental event the genome is reset and reorganized with large numbers of embryonic genes being expressed for the first time. If unsuccessful, further embryo development fails or there may be implications for later developmental stages. The newly identified stem cells provide the closest model available to study this process without the need for human embryos. This model of the early embryo will allow the study of human genome activation in a much more detailed way, providing important functional insights into genome regulation, developmental disorders, and early embryo loss. |
| New methods for network visualizations enable change of perspectives and views Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:26 AM PST Researchers have developed a new method for generating network layouts that allow for visualizing different information of a network in two- and three-dimensional virtual space and exploring different perspectives. The results could also facilitate future research on rare diseases by providing more versatile, comprehensible representations of complex protein interactions. |
| How the immune system responds to tissue damage can aid cancer spread Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:26 AM PST Researchers have uncovered how a process involved in the regeneration of tissue damaged by radiation can aid the spread of cancer. |
| Visualization of the origin of magnetic forces by atomic resolution electron microscopy Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:26 AM PST Scientists have observed atomic magnetic fields, the origin of magnetic forces, for the first time using an innovative Magnetic-field-free Atomic-Resolution STEM they developed. |
| Developments in lignin degradation: New microorganisms and enzymes at play Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:26 AM PST Lignin, a chief component of cell walls in plants, is naturally degraded in the soil. Identifying new microorganisms involved in this degradation can help develop novel lignin breakdown processes in industrial settings. Now, researchers have isolated 8 microorganisms that degrade the lignin model compound 2-phenoxyacetophenone (2-PAP). They found that one of these microbes uses a new, unidentified enzyme to cleave the ether-bonds in 2-PAP, resulting in the formation of phenol and benzoate. |
| How a single nerve cell can multiply Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:26 AM PST Neurons are constantly performing complex calculations to process sensory information and infer the state of the environment. For example, to localize a sound or to recognize the direction of visual motion, individual neurons are thought to multiply two signals. However, how such a computation is carried out has been a mystery for decades. Researchers have now discovered in fruit flies the biophysical basis that enables a specific type of neuron to multiply two incoming signals. This provides fundamental insights into the algebra of neurons -- the computations that may underlie countless processes in the brain. |
| Fingertip sensitivity for robots Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:26 AM PST Striving to improve touch sensing in robotics, scientists developed a thumb-shaped sensor with a camera hidden inside and trained a deep neural network to infer its haptic contact information. When something touches the finger, the system constructs a three-dimensional force map from the visible deformations of its flexible outer shell. This research invention significantly improves a robot finger's haptic perception, coming ever closer to the sense of touch of human skin. |
| Cancer: When viruses and bacteria cooperate Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:26 AM PST Infections with several pathogens simultaneously increase the risk of cervical cancer, according to a new study conducted on artificial 3D tissue models. |
| 'Workhorse' of photovoltaics in tandem with perovskite Posted: 24 Feb 2022 08:26 AM PST So-called PERC cells are used in mass production of silicon solar cells, they are considered the workhorses of photovoltaics, dominating the market. Now two teams have shown that such standard silicon cells are also suitable as a basis for tandem cells with perovskite top cells. Currently, the efficiency of the tandem cell is still below that of optimised PERC cells alone, but could be increased to up to 29.5% through targeted optimization. The research was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics as part of a joint project. |
| Unravelling the mysteries around type-2 diabetes Posted: 24 Feb 2022 06:11 AM PST For more than 30 years, scientists have been trying to unravel the mystery of how a key biological molecule self assembles into a rogue protein-like substance known as amyloid, which is thought to play a role in the development of type-2 diabetes - a disease that affects 300 million people worldwide. A team of scientists at the University of Leeds has, for the first time, been able to identify the step-by-step changes that take place in the molecule known as human islet amyloid polypeptide, or hIAPP, as it changes into amyloid. |
| Earth’s coldest forests are shifting northward with climate change Posted: 24 Feb 2022 06:11 AM PST New research shows rising temperatures are causing Earth's coldest forests to shift northward, raising concerns about biodiversity, an increased risk of wildfires and mounting impacts of climate change on northern communities. |
| Low-meat and meat-free diets associated with lower overall cancer risk Posted: 23 Feb 2022 05:28 PM PST Eating meat five times or less per week is associated with a lower overall cancer risk, according to two studies. |
| Automation is fueling increasing mortality among U.S. adults, study finds Posted: 23 Feb 2022 02:26 PM PST The automation of U.S. manufacturing -- robots replacing people on factory floors -- is fueling rising mortality rate among America's working-age adults, according to a new study. |
| Older Japanese dog owners may face lower risk of disability than non-dog owners, study finds Posted: 23 Feb 2022 11:33 AM PST An analysis of data from more than 11,000 older Japanese adults suggests that seniors who own a dog may be at lower risk of disability than those who have never been dog owners. |
| Blood pressure rose during the pandemic, study finds Posted: 23 Feb 2022 10:35 AM PST Blood pressure rose moderately during the early months of the pandemic, according to a study of patients who monitored themselves at home. |
| How well do boosters work? Depends on your genes Posted: 23 Feb 2022 10:34 AM PST Genetics play an important role in how our bodies respond to vaccines and booster shots, suggesting that certain protective responses elicited by vaccination could be more effective with personalization, according to a new study. |
| Smelly ocelot habitats may scare off seed-dispersing rodents Posted: 23 Feb 2022 08:13 AM PST An experiment in Panama's Parque Natural Metropolitano and Gamboa revealed that agoutis were less likely to disperse and pilfer seeds in sites where ferocious felines roam. |
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