A group of scientists led by researchers at the Université de
Versailles' Institut Lavoisier in France has worked out how to stably
gift-wrap a chemical gas known as nitric oxide within metal-organic
frameworks. Such an encapsulated chemical may allow doctors to
administer nitric oxide in a more highly controlled way to patients,
suggesting new approaches for treating dangerous infections and heart
conditions with the biologically-active...
Wednesday
Neutrinos can deliver not only full-on hits but also 'glancing blows'
In what they call a "weird little corner" of the already weird world of
neutrinos, physicists have found evidence that these tiny particles
might be involved in a surprising reaction.
Neutrinos are famous for almost never interacting. As an example, ten
trillion neutrinos pass through your hand every second, and fewer than
one actually interacts with any of the atoms that make up your hand.
However, when neutrinos do...
A repulsive material: New hydrogel dominated by electrostatic repulsion
In a world-first achievement published in Nature, scientists
from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science in Japan, along with
colleagues from the National Institute of Material Science and the
University of Tokyo, have developed a new hydrogel whose properties are
dominated by electrostatic repulsion, rather than attractive
interactions.
According to Yasuhiro Ishida, head of the Emergent Bioinspired Soft
Matter...
Detecting extraterrestrial life through motion
Looking for life on other planets is not straightforward. It usually
relies on chemical detection, which might be limited or even completely
irrelevant to alien biology. On the other hand, motion is a trait of all
life, and can be used to identify microorganisms without any need of
chemical foreknowledge. EPFL scientists have now developed an extremely
sensitive yet simple motion detector that can be built easily by
adapting...
Tuesday
Microscopy reveals how atom-high steps impede oxidation of metal surfaces
Low-energy electron microscopy images of the nickel-aluminum surface
before and after oxidation. The faint lines before oxidation indicate
the atom-high steps that separate
flat terrace sections of the crystal surface. As oxidation begins at a
point on one terrace, the oxide spreads in elongated stripes along that
terrace, pushing...
What you tweet when you go party can be useful for improving urban planning
Layout of businesses, nightlife and leisure areas in Madrid using
Twitter are illustrated here. The uncolored part corresponds to
residential areas.
Millions of Twitter users are constantly reporting where they are and
what they are doing. With this information, two Spanish computer science
experts suggest using geolocalized tweets...
New half-light half-matter quantum particles created
Prospects of developing computing and communication technologies based
on quantum properties of light and matter may have taken a major step
forward thanks to research by City College of New York physicists led by
Dr. Vinod Menon.
In a pioneering study, Professor Menon and his team were able to
discover half-light, half-matter particles in atomically thin
semiconductors (thickness ~ a millionth of a single sheet of paper)...
A qubit candidate shines brighter
An array of microdisks and nanobeam photonic cavities formed from a
single crystal diamond membrane. The scale bar indicates 2 microns.
In the race to design the world's first universal quantum computer, a
special kind of diamond defect called a nitrogen vacancy (NV) center is
playing a big role. NV centers consist of a nitrogen atom...
American cities are many times brighter at night than German counterparts
Berlin at night, seen from the ISS.
German cities emit several times less light per capita than comparably
sized American cities, according to a recent publication in the journal Remote Sensing.
The size of the gap grew with city size, as light per capita increased
with city size in the USA but decreased with city size in Germany....
Optogenetics captures neuronal transmission in live mammalian brain
This is a reconstruction of a pair of synaptically connected neurons.
Neurons, the cells of the nervous system, communicate by transmitting
chemical signals to each other through junctions called synapses. This
"synaptic transmission" is critical for the brain and the spinal cord to
quickly process the huge amount of incoming stimuli...
Sunday
Shedding new light on diet of extinct animals
A herd of forest elephants in their natural environment in the La Lopé National Park, Gabon.
A study of tooth enamel in mammals living today in the equatorial forest
of Gabon could ultimately shed light on the diet of long extinct
animals, according to new research from the University of Bristol.
Reconstructing what extinct organisms...
Distribution of fish on northeast US shelf influenced by both fishing, climate
Summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus).
Scientists studying the distribution of four commercial and recreational
fish stocks in Northeast U.S. waters have found that climate change can
have major impacts on the distribution of fish, but the effects of
fishing can be just as important and occur on a more immediate time
scale.
The...
First scientific report shows police body-cameras can prevent unacceptable use-of-force
As Obama pledges investment in body-worn-camera technology for police
officers, researchers say cameras induce 'self-awareness' that can
prevent unacceptable uses-of-force seen to have tragic consequences in
the US over the past year -- from New York to Ferguson -- but warn that
cameras have implications for prosecution and data storage.
Researchers...
Saturday
Could playing Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker' and other music improve kids' brains?
Children who play the violin or study piano could be learning more than
just Mozart. A University of Vermont College of Medicine child
psychiatry team has found that musical training might also help kids
focus their attention, control their emotions and diminish their
anxiety.
Children who play the violin or study piano could be learning...
Mechanics of cells' long-range communication modeled by researchers
As fibrosis progresses, "bridges" of extracellular matrix appear between cells.
Interdisciplinary research at the University of Pennsylvania is showing
how cells interact over long distances within fibrous tissue, like that
associated with many diseases of the liver, lungs and other organs.
By developing mathematical models of how...
Sun sizzles in high-energy X-rays
For the first time, a mission designed to set its eyes on black holes
and other objects far from our solar system has turned its gaze back
closer to home, capturing images of our sun. NASA's Nuclear
Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has taken its first picture of
the sun, producing the most sensitive solar portrait ever taken in
high-energy X-rays.
"NuSTAR will give us a unique look at the sun, from the deepest...
Maternal supplementation with multiple micronutrients compared with iron-folic acid
In Bangladesh, daily maternal supplementation of multiple micronutrients
compared to iron-folic acid before and after childbirth did not reduce
all-cause infant mortality to age 6 months, but did result in
significant reductions in preterm birth and low birth weight, according
to a study in the December 24/31 issue of JAMA.
Multiple micronutrient deficiencies are common among pregnant women
in resource-poor regions of...
Ultrasounds dance the 'moonwalk' in new metamaterial
Silicone beads embedded in a water-based gel (photograph is ~2 cm across).
Metamaterials have extraordinary properties when it comes to diverting
and controlling waves, especially sound and light: for instance, they
can make an object invisible, or increase the resolving power of a lens.
Now, researchers at the Centre de Recherche...
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