ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

Researchers infuse bacteria with silver to improve power efficiency in fuel cells

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 11:28 AM PDT

A team of engineers and chemists has taken a major step forward in the development of microbial fuel cells -- a technology that utilizes natural bacteria to extract electrons from organic matter in wastewater to generate electrical currents.

How to catch a perfect wave: Scientists take a closer look inside the perfect fluid

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 11:28 AM PDT

Scientists have reported new clues to solving a cosmic conundrum: How the quark-gluon plasma -- nature's perfect fluid -- evolved into the building blocks of matter during the birth of the early universe.

Ultrathin self-healing polymers create new, sustainable water-resistant coatings

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 09:40 AM PDT

Researchers have found a way to make ultrathin surface coatings robust enough to survive scratches and dings. The new material, developed by merging thin-film and self-healing technologies, has an almost endless list of potential applications, including self-cleaning, anti-icing, anti-fogging, anti-bacterial, anti-fouling and enhanced heat exchange coatings, researchers said.

Part of the Universe’s missing matter found

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 08:46 AM PDT

Galaxies can receive and exchange matter with their external environment thanks to the galactic winds created by stellar explosions. An international research team has now mapped a galactic wind for the first time. This unique observation helped to reveal where some of the Universe's missing matter is located and to observe the formation of a nebula around a galaxy.

A simple way to get complex semiconductors to assemble themselves

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 08:45 AM PDT

A new way to make complex, layered semiconductors is like making rock candy: They assemble themselves from chemicals in water. The method will aid design and large-scale production of these materials.

Ancient bone tools found in Moroccan cave were used to work leather, fur

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 08:45 AM PDT

When researchers first started to look at animal bones from Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco, they wanted to learn about the diet and environment of early human ancestors who lived there between 120,000 and 90,000 years ago. But they soon realized that the bones they had found weren't just meal scraps. They'd been shaped into tools, apparently for use in working leather and fur.

Physicists make square droplets and liquid lattices

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 01:10 PM PDT

Driving systems out of equilibrium with electric fields proves useful for creating liquid shapes that are nearly impossible to find in nature.

Using artificial intelligence to predict COVID patients' oxygen needs

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 10:51 AM PDT

Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge along with 20 other hospitals from across the world and healthcare technology leader, NVIDIA, have used artificial intelligence (AI) to predict COVID patients' oxygen needs on a global scale.

Scientists develop 'optimal strategies' computer model that could significantly reduce future COVID-19 infections and deaths

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 10:46 AM PDT

Scientists have developed a predictive computer model that, when tested on real pandemic data, proposed strategies that would have reduced the rate of both COVID-19 infections and deaths by an average of 72 per cent, based on a sample from four countries.

Better fibers: Fireproof and comfortable

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 08:10 AM PDT

A new chemical process turns cotton into a fire-resistant fabric that nevertheless retains the skin-friendly properties of cotton.

Noninvasive eye procedure provides potential pathway for virus, disease carriers

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 08:12 AM PDT

In a new article, scientists explain how tears ejected from the eye during a procedure that tests for glaucoma can theoretically transmit disease.

Homemade face masks work; effectiveness varies depending on how they are made

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 08:12 AM PDT

Researchers studied the fate of a large-sized surrogate cough droplets at different velocities, corresponding from mild to severe, while using various locally procured fabrics as masks.

A unique material with tunable properties is explored in a new study

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 07:01 AM PDT

Researchers use mass spectroscopy and ultrafast laser pulses to interrogate chromium oxides in unprecedented detail.

Shining a light on Moon’s oldest geologic imprints

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 07:00 AM PDT

New research has found the Moon may have been subjected to much greater impacts from asteroids and other bodies than previously thought, building on our understanding of the Moon's earliest geologic evolution.

New 3D-printed sensor can detect glyphosate in beverages

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 07:00 AM PDT

A newly developed, low-cost sensor can detect and accurately measure the amount of the widely used and controversial herbicide, glyphosate, in droplets of liquid in a laboratory test. Engineers developed the low-cost sensor, which uses nano-sized tubes, and tested it on orange juice and rice beverage samples they spiked with the herbicide for the study. The glyphosate sensor uses technology that is similar to that used in glucose tests that can quickly measure blood sugar levels from a pinprick of blood.

Taking lessons from a sea slug, study points to better hardware for artificial intelligence

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 07:00 AM PDT

The sea slug has taught neuroscientists the most basic intelligence features that any creature in the animal kingdom needs to survive. Now, researchers have mimicked these strategies in a quantum material, a step toward figuring out how to build artificial intelligence directly into hardware.

3D analysis of SARS-CoV-2 reveals clues on virus tactics

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 05:26 AM PDT

By combining all available data on the coronavirus's 3D shape, researchers have revealed new clues on how it evades human immune detection and replicates. Their new resource may help researchers stay ahead of new variants.

Do Alexa and Siri make kids bossier? New research suggests you might not need to worry

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 07:01 PM PDT

A team studied whether hanging out with conversational agents, such as Alexa or Siri, could affect the way children communicate with their fellow humans.

Improving biomaterials design for bone regeneration

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 06:59 PM PDT

In a new study, researchers are investigating the types of material used in bone reconstruction to see which one works best.

Researchers show novel device improves blood sugar control in hyperinsulinism patients whose pancreas has been removed

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 10:56 AM PDT

Researchers have demonstrated that an experimental device can improve blood sugar control in patients who developed diabetes after their pancreas was removed to treat their hyperinsulinism, a genetic disease in which the pancreas produces too much insulin. Using a combination of continuous glucose monitoring, two hormone pumps, and an algorithm, the device, known as the bihormonal bionic pancreas (BHBP), helped HI patients with diabetes maintain stable glucose levels over the study period.

Engineered E. coli could make carbohydrates, renewable fuel, from carbon dioxide

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 02:28 PM PDT

Researchers have engineered Escherichia coli bacteria to capture carbon dioxide using hydrogen gas to convert it into formic acid.